Overzealous Tapping

Yesterday was a "watch day" in Abby Grace's ballet/tap class. Unfortunately, I may have to have Abby's hearing checked because she could obviously not hear her feet tapping very well. :)

Sorry the video is a tad blurry.

Theme for the Day: Sharing

Jeremy turns 33 on Thursday, and Abby has been planning his birthday party for about a week now. Today, she told me that because he doesn't have any toys, she is going to let him play with the toys in her room on his birthday.

I almost felt sorry for him.

As we left Wal-Mart today, Abby spotted a tree with "fall leaves" and asked me to pull over and pick some up so she could take them to school. I obliged, which led to me picking leaves off of the tree because none had actually fallen yet...I'm sure leaving the other Wal-Mart patrons to question my sanity. Anyway, while driving home, Abby and I chatted about how she could include fall leaves into her future career, amazed with how many things we came up with...florist, interior decorator, county agent, teacher, plantologist (sorry, the correct term escapes me right now). Finally, I told her that I just hope whatever she does when she grows up is something that she loves and is passionate about, commenting that I still sometimes wonder if I have truly found my passion. Her response? "Mama, when I get big, I do what I love and you do it with me. Then you will love it too."

I love how little minds think; everything is simply, well, simple.

Okay, I promise the trend toward talking posts will come to an end soon and be replaced with more pictures.

Happy Fall

Fall is my favorite season to decorate for. Probably because the colors go well with my house colors (unlike spring) and I have enough stuff to look cute but not cluttered (unlike Christmas). Anyway, I had this little pumpkin and candle sitting on my counter by themselves until today when Abby brought a fall leaf collection (from the big playground) home from school. Together, we carefully added the leaves to our little fall display and they look so good. Maybe I have a little interior decorator on my hands, or maybe she just enjoys fall as much as I do. Either way, I am very pleased. Happy fall, Ya'll...

Stickers and Joy

When we got home from school today, Abby gave me one of her stickers. Want to know why? "Because you drove home good."

When Abby was taking her bath tonight, we were singing, "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart..." After a few phrases, Abby stopped and asked, "Mama, what Joy eat?"

A Post of Updates

I have recently blogged about a couple of things that deserve an update.

1. Tomato Hornworm: For a while, he was quite the needy pet. I could not keep him fed to save my life. One night, I gave him 3 fresh stalks of leaves before bed, only to find him the next morning staring ravenously out the jar. He had eaten the leaves AND the stems. So that day, I gave him 4 stalks, only for a repeat performance later that afternoon. It got to the point that I was giving him 5 stalks of leaves 4 times a day. Oh, and did I mention that he was huge? Now, though, having him as a pet is the opposite end of the spectrum. Jeremy reported early one morning that I needed to come check on the worm because he was brown and quite likely dead. Fortunately, he was not dead, just ready to dig his hole and transition into the next stage of his life cycle. And so we wait...

2. Dance: Abby’s little ballet class at ALT ended up not making, which left me searching for a different studio. We ended up at Amarillo College, but probably just for this semester as what we are doing goes against everything I believe in when it comes to dance (part of that being taking ballet AND tap during the first year). But hey…at least she is dancing. And there are already 2 little friends from church that may join us back at ALT in January.

3. Busy Week: Overall, Abby handled her busy week pretty well. And thanks to a 2+ hour nap this afternoon, we may be ready to tackle it all again tomorrow. It will also help that I don't expect this week to be quite as hectic.

Homecoming 2009

Last night was homecoming which is always fun, but it was even more fun because DMama and Madison came for the game...not to mention that we beat Lamesa, 47-6...probably due to all of Abby's cheering from the stands. :)

A Week in the Life...

Want to know what Abby Grace's week has been like so far?

Monday: ballet and tap
Tuesday: speech
Wednesday: "Take Back Wednesday Nights" at church
Thursday:

You will notice that Thursday is blank--Praise the Lord! We were able to spend this afternoon playing with Little People, riding her tricycle and throwing rocks in the drainage ditch, picking tomatoes, playing ball with Sassy, and vegging...literally. We both spent about 30 minutes "cuddle bugging" on my bed doing absolutely nothing but watching a tad of TV and chatting. It's a good thing, because we have to be ready to go again tomorrow; it is Homecoming!

This has been our first week ever with such a crazy schedule, and I have commented more than once that I felt like the mother of a 10 year old as opposed to a 3 year old. Fortunately, Abby loved all of her "new" activities and kept her wits about her...most of the time. And don't worry, if I decide she (we) are over-extended, which she (we) very well may be, I will be the first to pull an activity...as happiness (and sanity) rank very high on my list!

New Friend

Guess what Abby Grace and I found in our garden this evening? A tomato hornworm, but not just one. We found 9...yes, folks...9 tomato hornworms. Thank goodness we caught them when they were still little; otherwise I fear our tomato crop would surely have perished. Anyway, Abby knew just what to do (thanks to a previous experience a couple of months ago with a single friend). She picked her favorite and delicately (or not) disposed (or squished with her foot, thrilled over the worm juice squirting everywhere) of the rest. Then, into the jar her new friend went. Hopefully, this science experiment will turn out as planned. Our last one failed miserably, as apparently a fly had previously layed eggs on the larvae, so instead of a moth, we ended up with a bunch of baby flies and the bare remains of the "to be" moth. Disgusting!

The best news of all of this; Abby has show and tell at her school tomorrow! I bet Ms. Askins will love us forever after this one, but probably not as much as she would have if we had taken a pet worm for every child in the class...

(Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom before you watch the video.)

Correction: After a little research, I believe we are the proud owners of a tobacco hornworm, not a tomato hornworm. They are the same in terms of life cycle and what they eat, just differ in how they look (pattern on sides and color of horn) and where in the United States they are most prominent.

Cheer Texas

We went to a birthday party last Saturday at Cheer Texas where Abby Grace could be found doing this...

and this...

and this.

Homemade Cookies (or not)

As we were walking through Wal-Mart last week, Abby proclaimed that she wanted to make the above pictured cookies.

It was a two day assignment, cookies on Day 1 and decorating on Day 2. Because everybody knows how exhausting making cookies out of a bag can be...

Other than the first "example" cookie, Abby did every last bit of the decorating by herself. I had to fight off my OCD tendencies with a big stick, but overall, I'd say the cookies turned out pretty perfect.

But the best part was sampling the finished product. Scrumptious!

Meet the Bulldog 2009

School may have just started last week, but football, at least at our house, has now been in session for almost a month and a half. Two weeks ago, we had Meet the Bulldog where Abby had a blast cheering with the cheerleaders, sprinting through the blow-up bulldog, and giving the real bulldog (mascot) hugs. The first official game was last Friday where we played Pampa, Borger's big rival, and won 45-43. YAY! And, of course, it doesn't stop there. We play Caprock this Thursday, followed by a few more pre-district games; then it is on to district. Maybe, by then, Abby will have quit calling the games baseball games...only to spend the first half of baseball season calling it football. Ha.

New Traffic Laws

It's only 1:00 pm, and twice today I have already been part of a conversation similar to this. "I better hang up. I'm about to drive into a school zone."

You are probably aware that a whole slew of new laws went into effect today, but in case you somehow missed it, a few of the most pertinent ones to our daily lives include:

1. Everybody, no matter what the age or where they are riding, must wear seatbelts.

2. All children under the age of 8 must be in a carseat/booster seat unless they are at least 4'9" tall.

3. You cannot talk on a cellphone or text while driving in a school zone.

So I guess Abby can now write the DPS a note, thanking them for saving her the embarrassment of being the only 2nd grader still riding in a carseat in a few years...