Morning at the lake.

My family decided they wanted to get up early Sunday morning and go hiking at the lake. We use to go hiking a lot when we lived in Alabama and really miss it. We took the girls to Milford Lake and went on the trails. We saw lots of evidence of deer but of course we were much too noisy to actually see any.

It was just cold enough for hot cocoa on the way home.

"Why did the giraffe cross the road?"

"Cause the chicken was on vacation!"

Amen and Roll Tide!

My favorite thing about Fall is football season. I love to watch the games on TV and getting to go to them is over-the-top for me. On Sundays it does not matter who is playing, the games are still on somewhere in the house. When I moved to Huntsville I met one of my dearest friends and she still is to this day. One of the first things she told me was, "Okay little girl, you live in the South now. You have to be a Bama fan!" Since it was not advisable to argue with her, I didn't and I have been a faithful Bama fan ever since.

When we moved to Kansas my biggest regret was that I would not get to watch the games as much or partake in that tradition. I still miss that aspect very much but I know someday we will be back in the Heart of Dixie and I'll be sitting in front of my TV yelling "ROOOOOOOOOOOOll Tide!"

I can't wait.

Bama is having an exceptional season this year, currently sitting at 11-0 and number 1 in the BCS standings. I received this email from my Bama family and every time I read it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

All I can say is, Amen and Roll Tide!

SO....WHAT IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL?
It is Wallace Wade.
It is Bear Bryant.
It is Gene Stallings.
It is this man in charge.

It is not Bobby Bowden,
Phil Fulmer
or Dennis Franchione.
It is the Rose Bowl.
It is hearing Keith Jackson call an Alabama game.

It is watching George Teague running down Lamar Thomas in the 1993 Sugar Bowl then rewinding it and watching it again.

It is hearing the first notes of Sweet Home Alabama.

It is the desire to beat Auburn at any competitive event that
exists.

It is a houndstooth hat.

It is being 'Dixie's Football Pride'

It is having enough pride to fight for your school but having
enough class not to.

It is cheering the same amount for a first down on second and 6
as on fourth and 1.

It is watching Cornelius Bennett give Notre Dame quarterback
Steve Beuerlein a concussion on that October day in Birmingham
in 1986.

It is determining who you are going to date & marry by which
team they swear allegiance to.

It is beating Florida in the SEC title when everyone said the
game in 'The Swamp' was a fluke.

It is watching The Bear on the jumbotron before a game in
Bryant-Denny Stadium and almost seeing him leaning against the
goalpost in the end zone.

It is right behind God and family.

It is spending a day at The Bryant Museum and still not seeing
everything.

It is cool crisp autumn Saturdays where you can smell football in the air and feel it whenever there is a slight breeze.

It is watching The Bear get number 315 against Auburn.

It is watching The Bear get number 323 against Illinois.

It is hearing Paul Kennedy do the play-by-play when Van Tiffin kicked the 52-yard field goal against Auburn in 1985.

It is remembering the feeling of the upper deck at legion field rumbling due to feet stomping.

It is knowing how many days until the start of a season year around.

It is driving down Colonial Drive to see Bryant-Denny Stadium not the sorority girls.

It is getting chills up and down your entire body whenever you hear anything about the 1993 Sugar Bowl and the pride you feel because that night tradition ruled.

It is hearing The Bear's voice and having all the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up because you know no matter he said, it was something special.

It is hearing The Million Dollar Band play 'Yea Alabama' and knowing it just does not get any better.

It is imagining hearing Penn State Quarterback Chuck Fusina ask Alabama linebacker Barry Krauss 'How close is it?' and hearing Krauss say 'About an inch, you'd better pass' right before fourth down during The Goal Line Stand in the 1979 Sugar Bowl.

It is almost coming to tears whenever Alabama loses to Auburn or Tennessee.

It is The Kick.
It is The Goal Line Stand.
It is The Desperation Block.

It is purposely not wearing any clothes with the colors orange and blue.

It is the Third Saturday in October.

It is not needing an alarm clock on game days, you sit bolt upright in the bed long before the alarm goes off because you know that it is a gameday, you can sleep after the bowl game.

It is walking into a stadium and knowing Alabama will win the game no matter who they are playing because is just the way it is supposed to be.

It is the saying 'Offense wins games, Defense wins national titles.'

It is the Bear Bryant 'A'.

It is getting to the stadium hours before the game just to be there.

It is walking into another team's stadium and having those fans hate you because you are from Alabama.

It is the pride that a father has when he brings his children to a game so they may cherish the tradition.

It is the hit by Roman Harper in the 2005 against Tennessee that meant everything

It is beating LSU in Baton Rouge.

It is hearing the crunch as a linebacker dressed in crimson and white hits a running back dressed in orange and blue.

It is the pride you take in being every team's rival.

It is pulling for any team that is playing Auburn.
It is pulling for any team that is playing Tennessee.

It is singing Rammer Jammer period.

It is wishing both teams could lose when Auburn plays Tennessee.

It is knowing that the SEC Championship is a birthright.

It is being respected and feared at the same time.

It is holding up four fingers at the end of the third quarter.

It is not caring about a Heisman Trophy.

It is knowing what 'Mama Called' means.

It is whipping Auburn 31-7 in Jordan-Hare Stadium when nobody picked you to win.

It is NOT 'The Jungle'.
It is The Catch.

It is having 21 Southeastern Conference Titles.

It is having 12 National Titles.

It is more than I can ever mention in this list.

It is class.

It is tradition.

It is Alabama Football.

All in the name of decorating

If you happen by our house in the next couple of weeks and see a giant 16 foot spider web spanning the front yard, you may be wondering, "how the heck did they get that up in the trees?"

Well, here is your answer.
Meet our very own "Spider Man!"

It's been a little over 12 years since Jamie has worn his climbing gear. His safety belt was a tad snugger than it had been previously but I was told that was because he has more 'muscle' now. Oooh okay. Whatever you say babe. (winky, wink)

There is a new banner hanging in Allen Fieldhouse.
Check it out.

Mascot dance-off... then vs now.

The basketball guys showed off their moves..
off the court!

One sexy coach....

Awww... the kids are being so good and paying attention. What good little Hawks they are!

Oops. Spoke too soon.

KU vs CU 30-14

Rhy and I have this superstition that manifested during basketball season last year. Whenever we would get together and watch KU play, they would lose. We didn't know if this would carry over to football season or not and the one and ONLY time we watched a football game was the night KU lost to South Florida. Yesterday in Lawrence, we made sure we did not sit by each other and no physical contact. The buffer must have been fine because we won 30-14.

Rock Chalk!

Piotique 2008

I wish I could say that September was just such an exciting month that I did not have time to post but unfortunately that would not be accurate. In fact, quite the opposite.

On the bright side however, Gen started playing city league soccer mid-September and absolutely loves it! So FINALLY, something to blog! YEA!

Say "Cheeeese"

The first day of school was always a high anxiety day for me as a kid. I am so thankful that my girls don't have that problem. Gen said she woke up at 3:45 but only because she was so excited.

Their daddy dropped them off at their schools. He offered to walk Gen in but she told him, "It's okay Dad, I got it." Syd was a little more accommodating to his daddy ego. He walked her to her class, met her new teacher, and then gave her a quick reminder about manners and talking.







Maybe he gave his speech to the wrong kid....

Weekend at the Plaza

We spent the weekend at the Country Club Plaza in KC. The best thing about this district in my opinion is the food. Yeah the shopping is fun.. but I like to eat more. Here, Gentry is carrying the to-go bag from the Cheesecake Factory. We did not have room for dessert but we certainly were not leaving without it. Jamie & Syd got Crazy Carl's Carrotcake cheesecake & Gen and I got the Godiva Chocolate cheesecake. Our waiter was so cool with the girls. When I ordered our cheesecake he looked at Gen and said, "Whoa, do you really love chocolate? I mean reeeeally loooove chocolate? Would you marry it and have it's babies, love it?" Gen just looked at him like he was cracked and shook her head. So later while we were eating it, we were joking about how much we wanted to marry this cheesecake and have it's little chocolate babies and then eat them too! Gross, I know.
Every picture I have of Syd from this weekend looks pretty much like this one. She is cheesing big in every one of them. I have to try to catch her off guard in order to get anything otherwise.
We went to Worlds of Fun on Saturday. This was a first for the girls and they had a blast. Gentry rode every roller coaster at least once and Syd rode all but one and that is because she was too short. She had the hiccups several times throughout the day and I was teasing her that she wasn't going to be able to grow enough in one day to ride it, so to just knock it off.

The bubbling of this little fountain was apparently irresistible. It started with one little finger slowly reaching... cautiously looking at me to gage my reaction.

Is she going to fuss at me?

Then he got his cousin to come join him.
And no people, I'm not a bad Auntie... I swear I chased this boy around all dang evening pulling up his swim diaper but I think it may have been over the weight limit. On second thought, maybe I am a bad Auntie because this picture still cracks me up!

Chalk crazy

The girls got chalk crazy Friday night. What started out as small scale "Hello" written in chalk for Aunt Bon turned into a complete driveway mural complete with parking instructions.


See Bon, even your nieces know you are parking challenged. I'm certainly not hatin' because it is no secret I am afflicted with the same condition.

Green with envy

Syd got a Green Machine for her birthday and has played with it almost every day since. Needless to say it's been a big hit with all the kids... even the tiny kiddos that can't reach the pedals yet.
I believe these shot caught a Green Machine "jacking" in progress. These poor kids didn't stand a chance against this crazed driver.