The Auburn Alabama Game

I got nervous about this game the minute the Georgia game was over. In the hour leading up to kick off I was literally a ball of nerves. Yes, I understand it is just football. But this is Auburn, undefeated, and I have a lot of hope! At the end of the first quarter some people had resigned that the game was over and Alabama would keep their at home win streak. Adam. Really? Calling game over at 21-0 with three quarters left to go? What kind of fan are you?? I had hope. And it prevailed.

Several weeks ago we were on our way to my parents house and a street over was a house with a recently rolled tree. Adam, with the glass half empty view, said, "that stinks." I however saw a huge Auburn flag hanging off the deck right behind the tree and we had just beaten LSU a few days before. I thought, "I wonder if that is their own little Toomer's Corner?" I can picture a family running out to roll their little tree in celebration. On Saturday I checked that house for the mini Toomer's. And sure enough it had been rolled again! I love it. Wish I had taken a picture. This one of the real tree will have to do.

Adam and I got SEC Championship Tickets for eachother for Christmas. And I am so excited to watch my Tigers in person. And see a little of this... up close.

Because I am All In. Just like this new billboard in Atlanta says...

Its been a magical season.What a great game to end it with. Now for the post season. I beilve in Auburn and LOVE IT!!!!! War Eagle!!!!!
These pictures are from google.com. (That's a joke. I always tell my students Google is not a source. Yet they always cite it. They came from The Birmingham News and The War Eagle Reader.)

The Thanksgivings

Our Thanksgiving this year came in two parts. Neither of which were actually on Thursday. First, soon after getting into town on Wednesday night we met up with these two for coffee and catching up. They literally drive all over the state and out of it to see all their families so I loved getting to snag a few minutes to visit.

Thursday we relaxed at Nana and Puddin's house and visited the park. We were warming up for the big feast on Friday prior to "the" game.

On Friday we enjoyed spending time with Aubrey Kate and her parents, of course. Puddin' really out did himself with the turkey this year. I'll be dreaming about its yummy juicy tenderness until next November.

Then it was game time. That is a whole other post.

Saturday we headed over to Mimi and Papa's house. My sister ordered all the kids these cute turkey shirts. They were adorable. We wanted to get a photo of them all. This is how that turned out: Adam is wondering, "Where do I put the baby?"Noah wanted to hold a baby like Michael. We let him hold Xander's hand.

Lillie gives great hugs!

We all decorated the table runner with things we are thankful for before enjoying another great meal! And I am truly thankful for and blessed by our family on all sides! And all the ways our family continues to stretch and grow. (And I don't mean our clothes stretching and waists growing from dressing and hashbrown casserole.) Happy First Thanksgiving to these four pumpkins.

Disclaimer: All the pictures that are good are ones my mom took :)

The Gratitude Posts- Finale

Today I am thankful for it all. The love of a man, family, friends and mostly God that I am unworthy of. Blessings I do not deserve. Joy that overwhelms. A life that is rich. I thank God for all of it. And pray that I will never forget for a second that it was the sacrifice of his Son that made it all possible.

Noah is thankful for racecars.

How about you?

The Gratitude Posts-Day 23-24

Day 23

Today I am thankful for modern technology. For my washing machine, cell phone, dishwasher,oven, electricity. Things that I take for granted everyday but when I stop and think about life without them I am thankful.

Noah is thankful for cars.

Day 24

Today I am thankful for friendship. I have found motherhood to be isolating. When Noah was born I invested so much time into him, esp after going back to work. And rightly so. But I find that I didn't really invest time in my friendships. Especially the ones here in Tuscaloosa. And I found myself growing insecure and shy. It seems weird that I grow shy with my own friends. Esp since I bare my soul on a public blog and will pretty much spill my guts to anyone who will listen. But I feel shy about calling just because, what if they are doing something important? I feel shy about asking to get together because I sometimes feel like I have very little to offer. They might have something more important to do. I find myself not being the kind of friend I'd like to be. For this reason I am so thankful for my friends who love me in spite of this. And I am thankful for the time I get to spend with them. And in the many ways they make my world a better place to be in!

Noah is thakful for Nana's house.

How about you?

The Gratitude Posts- Day 22

Today I am thankful for everyday life.

I am thankful for the mundane day to day things. Like laundry and cooking dinner and unloading the dishwasher and rocking my babies to sleep. These little things I do everyday, that I often take for granted are the ways I serve my little family. And today I take joy in doing them. May I not take them for granted.

Noah is thankful for racecars.

How about you?

The Toy

Xander and Lillie both have these toys. They kept saying to me, "Aunt Banana...this is the best toy ever!" I thought it looked fun. They told me Miller needed one for Christmas. But I couldn't wait. And it sure is his absolute favorite thing ever. See for yourself.

The Gratitude Posts- Day 19,20,21

Day 19:

Today I am thankful for Adam.

I am so very thankful for Adam. I never have the right words to say just how thankful I am for the sacrifices he makes for me and our boys. I am humbled bu how he is always satisfied with less and always does more for us. I am thankful that I am sure of his unconditional love. I am thankful for the father he is. I am thankful for the kind of friend he is. I am thankful he is so good at cleaning. I am thankful that he thinks I'm cute. And I am thankful that he is my best friend.

Noah is thankful for butter. (That is what he told me he had at his Thanksgiving lunch at school.)

Day 20:

Today I am thankful for family.

I am thankful for the love of my family. I am thankful for how they serve me and my family. I am thankful for the way the celebrate. For their laughter, guidance, prayer, support, help, correction, and wisdom. I would not be who I am without them.

Noah is thankful for birthday parties.

Day 21:

I am thankful for this cold. I am thankful its not mastitis or thrush or a kidney stone. I am thankful for hot tea and my sweet husband who takes care of me.

Noah is thankful for tinker kai. I don't know what that is. But when I asked him that is what he said.

How about you?

The Birthday Party

I love birthdays! Can you tell?

This year Noah's party was Curious George. After calling around we decided to have it at our house. I thought that at three you need to do something with the kids. I bounced ideas off my mom and MIL and came up with three games based off book titles. Curious George Goes Fishing- magnet fishing game in a baby pool- with fish bubbles as prizes, Curious George Flies AKite-pin the bow on the kite-with Curious George gummies as the prizes, and Curious GeorgeFeeds the Animals-ball toss- with animal stampers and animal stickers for prizes. I also set up a table with Curious George coloring sheets and crayons. We gave the kids lunch bags with a thank you sticker to keep all their prizes in. We also gave lollipops in the party colors. I used color copies of the book covers at each game. We moved everything out of our garage to create space. (We stored most of the stuff next door! Thanks Jennifer and Teral!) We covered an unsightly bookshelf with butcher paper. I made a banner reading "Curious George Plays" to decorate. Inside the house was the Curious George movie playing and the book cover displayed with a cute popcorn box my sister made. (Sad I didn't get any pictures of this!) For dinner we served pizza (Curious George and the Pizza, Emy made a pizza box to display the book cover!), fruit salad, goldfish and pretzels. For dessert we had this adorable cake (I did not want to cut it!). It tasted just as good as it looked. Besides how much fun Noah had it was my favorite thing! So much creativity and talent in the sweet baker who made it! I also made chococolate cupcakes (Curious George and the Chocolate Factory, Emy made suckers like the candy shop) andchocolate covered bananas (but they didn't quite turn out). This was the first birthday that I have had my Cricut and I loved having it to make lots of decorations. I put most of them this morning and Noah saw them and said..."Oh decorations!! I love them, thank you so much! " It made all the work worth it! Noah had so much fun playing with his friends. I was so touched by all our friends who came from next door and from far away.

I am thankful for our families who came early to help set up and stayed late to help take down. Most of all I am thankful for my crazy Noah and all the joy he brings to us all. Happy Birthday little man until next year!