Smores Bars

Ok folks, last night after supper we had the YUMMIEST treat straight from my favorite magazine which only arrived in my mailbox yesterday - Family Fun! Great crafts for home and preschool, wonderful ideas for organization, and excellent snack, dinner and dessert recipes! The one we decided to make last night was an new twist on an old classic....Did you promise your kids you would roast marshmallows and it's now raining? Can get your fire started with that soaggy wood? NEVER FEAR! Make Smore's Bars in the oven and you won't dissapoint anyone at all (Click on the Smore's Bars link and it will send you straight to the recipe at Family Fun)!

Here's the deal: It's the 3rd Friday in August and opening night for high school football in Tennessee and needless to say, We Are Excited!

There are a couple of things that excite me about football....When Chad and I were still in college he was afforded the opportunity to begin coaching after an injury and 2nd ACL knee surgery. In 2001 while at a chapel service at Carson-Newman College, we recieved news of the 9/11 tragedy that we will forever remember. That week as a whole was a blur, however one thing stands out to me very vividly. That week at the JCHS stadium a good friend of ours and announcer at the football games said before the game started, "From White Pine to Rush Strong, From Jefferson City to Dandridge, now more than ever, YOU ARE IN PATRIOT COUNTRY!" That has stuck with me ever since. He said it at every home game for the rest of the season and I think for every game until he stopped announcing and I think I got chills and tears in my eyes every time.

Also when Chad started coaching he told me that his all time favorite "get fired up for football song" is Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight." And we try to play it for him on Friday mornings in the Fall. And hopefully if I think about it, I will text him at around kickoff and just write a few lines...let him know I can feel it in the air tonight too....

And a new favorite of ours is Kenny Chesney's "The Boys of Fall." Honestly, I cried the first time we watched the video...more than anything because of the coach in the video that says, "My daddy never saw me play football. Play for your father's tonight!" Chad's dad never saw him play his senior year and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Also, there are kids who's fathers don't give a rip if they are playing football. Those kids are the biggest reason I can tolerate Chad coaching football. Because he loves those kids like he loves his own and he worries and frets over them like he does Molly, Cooper, and Brody and he has given them gas money to get home on Friday nights and checked on them Saturday mornings to see if they are all right. There are a few lines in the song that give me chills and I know they do Chad too - I think the plan is to show the boys the video tonight before they go out for kickoff. Talk about being fired up! I wish I could be in that stinky, smelly locker room with them!

So, for those of you that have known me all my life, you know that I am a Pioneer thru and thru but tonight, I am very excited to be a Patriot!

Preschool

I am so very blessed to be able to take my kiddos to work with me everyday! Today started my 4th official year of teaching at Steps of Faith Preschool at FUMC in Jefferson City. It's great for us to be out of the house, have a little seperation from each other, be around other kids and adults and make some gas and grocery money at the same time! Today was our first day back and Cooper, Brody and I all had a great day!

AND.....Today was Molly's official "mom's going to leave me here and drive away" day at Kindergarten. She was there until 12:30 with about 1/3 of her class and had a blast! She tells me on the phone after my mother-in-law picked her up, "Mom, I made a new friend." And I said, "Great Molly, what's her name?" And she replies, "I don't remember Mom but I will tell you the next time!" Hey - at least she made a friend, who cares if she doesn't know her name!!

Kindergarten

Yesterday, I sent my first baby to school. Well, actually she went to school for a few tests and I stayed with her the entire time. Next Wednesday, Aug 18th, I will really have to walk her to the door, give her hugs and kisses and send her in....without me....

From the moment she was born on August 29th, she has literally been with me almost EVERYDAY. There are a handful of nights that I have not been the one to put her to bed (like seriously maybe 5-6 nights she has spent away from me), a handful of times I haven't been the one to take her to our preschool and even less times that I have slept in the same house with her.

Molly has gone to school with me at Steps of Faith Preschool since I started working there 3 years ago. Last year, I was her teacher and she was my student and don't think for a second it didn't bother me when she says the other day, "Mommy, I just wish you could be my teacher."

Molly is a very smart little girl. She's been able to write her name forever, knows all her letters and numbers (even up to one hundredty one, one hundredty two and so on), she colors like a dream, has a love for books and can sound out words. Do I worry about her educational experience? Not really. Do I worry about being away from her? Yes. Not so much for her because she is oober excited to be in kindergarten and begin to learn things away from her daddy and brothers and I but I guess the bottom line is.....

I am going to miss my Molly so much!!

You know that old saying, "When the cat's away, the mice will play?"

Well in this situation it should say, "When momma's in the shower, the children will take over the camera she forgot to put away!"

Fits and Tantrums

THIS is what happens when you pitch a fit for far too long!

You fall asleep in your fit-pitching position! Brody slept this way for at least 30 minutes!!

The Boys of Fall

Have you seen The Boys of Fall video by Kenny Chesney? It gives me chills, it made me cry, and most importantly it gets me excited for football!

Chad has officially been "doing football" for 4 weeks now I guess and I have been less than patient with him and the football situation. It wears me out to be here from morning til night, alone, with 3 kids. It's hard to do breakfast, lunch, dinner, dressing kids, wiping tails, playing games, trying to sew, etc when I am here by myself. I've been huffy with the time Chad has had to spend away from us. Thinking that it's not worth it. The money vs. the time doesn't equal out. At All.

However, HE LOVES HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL. He eats, sleeps, and breathes it. Chad draws plays on anything that will be still - tons of notebooks, napkins in restuarants, he even showed me a play one time in french fries at Wendys. NO JOKE. Chad longs for the day (hopefully soon) when he can take the boys with him to practice. Not only so they can be around it but also to get them out of my hair for awhile (yay!). He doesn't necessarily care if they even play in the future. He just wants them to be exposed to something that he loves soooo much. Will he coach forever? Who knows. In a way he would like to coach the twins when they get to high school but in another he would like to sit in the stands with me (I think I'd rather have him on the field with them).

So, after watching The Boys of Fall....now I am ready. I love the smell at the stadium before the games: fresh cut grass, hot dogs and popcorn cooking, and actually cigarette smoke smell. I love the band and of course the cheerleaders but I love the run through. I get chills when the team gets fired up and ready to play. I love when Chad gets excited and the most you will ever see out of him is clapping and butt smacking! I like it that the twins want to put their jerseys on (wear them to school all day) and carry their footballs under their arm and "protect them." I love packing our snack bag and getting our blanket ready to sit on the track and enjoy our Boys of Fall. JCHS Patriot Football is about to start and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Operation Beautiful

I faithfully watch the Today Show every morning that I can (unless of course I have to turn the channel to cartoons or a "kid show") and this morning I was struck by a segment that I thought was absolutely necessary and perfectly wonderful. There is a gal that started a project called Operation Beautiful where she is determined to change women and girls self-esteem, one Post-It note at a time. All she has done is encourage fellow women by posting a simple note in restaurant bathrooms, office mirrors, etc all over the country and it has caught on like wildfire. Not only in the US but all over the world! I am totally inspired!

She stated that more women and girls in our country suffer from anorexia and bulimia than from breast cancer. I FOUND THAT STAGGERING!! Who can you encourage today with a simple "You are beautiful" note? How many lives will you touch with a "You are unique, please never change" Post -It in a bathroom at your favorite restaurant? Take a look at her website. Read her book. Be encouraged!

"There could never be a more beautiful you!"

THIS is why we are praying for Brody and the situation with his eye (When I took this picture last night the twins wanted to see it and when Brody looked he said, "My eye is really crossed" That made me cry). Please continue to pray with us for the correction of the vision and the turning of his right eye! We go back to the doctor September 7 and should be able to decide further about surgery or a longer period of time with the patch! Thanks for your prayers sweet friends and family!