MSU Roadtrip

I was beating myself up for not blogging in the last week or so. Then I start thumbing through the digital pics on my camera and realize how much we have accomplished. Not to mention our house is on the market b/c we are so opportunistic:) Rates are going our way right now but by the time we get all the pieces lined up...there will be no lenders. Merrill Lynch is being taken over by BofA. Yikes! These financial institutions are holding too many mortgage backed securities evidently.

Now to the more important stuff.....we just got back from Starkville. It was like a whirlwind but so worth it. We got a little family time and got to see lots of old friends. Amy, Wendy and I planned the tailgate which was super fun to see so many friends and to see each other's families. My favorite part was introducing Ruby to friends and seeing Willie drenched in sweat from playing tackle football with MSU buddies.

Ruby's sentences

I really noticed Ruby making sentences today for the first time....

Ruby and Willie were playing cars. Then Ruby says "Let's play dollies."

Daddy was putting Ruby down for nap. He kisses her. Ruby says, "Kiss my dolly."

At dinner, she starts chanting to mommy, "Poop stinks! Poop stinks!"

Daddy left dinner table to run bathwater. Ruby asks, "Where'd Daddy Go?"

Talk it up, Ruby!

Soccer highlights

Here's a few more pics from Saturday's game. Thank you, Mr. Doug, for being such a great neighbor and for the great photos and video!

Soccer time!

Soccer season is here again!! Today was the first game & it was especially fun. Willie's good friend Clay is playing on our team "the Dragons." Willie is showing Clay the ropes. Clay is the sweetest little guy but he hasn't played before and he is shy. We love his whole family and Willie and Clay are at separate schools this year so we are grateful for the weekly practices/games to see each other. Also, Max from last season is on our team which Jay and I are especially glad b/c his mom and dad and little sister, Anna Bell, are fun to hang with.

Willie had 6 goals today including one goal which was a coast to coast the first drive of the game I've attached in the snapshot. We were having some serious fun. I have to admit between chatting with my soccer friends and chasing Ruby that I had to verify with Jay a couple of times who had actually made the goals---not that it matters of course. Mr. Doug, Jonathan and his girlfriend came to support Willie since he personally invited them this morning.

Oh, yes, if you are wondering.... they are certainly donning pink jerseys. The kids seem fine with it. I assumed it was pretty much a fluke that a boy/girl team ended up with pink. I have since learned that the coach let his daughter pick the color. His daughter also scaled the back of the soccer net during practice, wore a yellow polka dotted bikini to practice and started today's game with her blanket in one hand....In the meantime, I remind myself to be thankful for the dedicated volunteers and to be more childlike....Willie hasn't blinked an eye about the jerseys nor did he notice the coach's daughter yet.

After the game, everyone was telling Willie what a great game he had. He responded by telling them we have a sno-cone maker at home. We do have a little sno cone ice shaver, but why the untimely mention of it??? We did celebrate with sno cones after a nice nap. Then we headed out to Melissa, Bobby, Max and AnnaBell's house for a swim and to enjoy new friendships founded on the soccer fields.

Olympics

We have really enjoyed watching the Olympics. Jay and I mostly watch late-night (thank God for DVRs) but we have had some family time cheering for the USA. Of course, Willie is eaten up with it. (He wanted to know if he got the gold for his manners the other night.) Swimming, track and beach volleyball seem to be all of our favorites. Although Jay did sleep through Walsh/May's gold the other night...he seemed a bit frustrated he wasn't aroused for the monumental event that they happened to be donning their white mesh suits:)

We saw a pole vault highlight the other day. Evidently it was a first for Willie because he turned and said, "Mom, they shouldn't be running with that stick should they?"

Hmmmm....You never know what you'll be explaining to a 4 year old when you wake up....certainly pole vaulting wasn't on the list this morning.

We are sad as the close of the Olympics approaches and I was looking forward to the next summer Olympics until I realized Ruby will be 4 asking cute questions and Willie will be 8 asking me no telling what. I will not be wishing these days away.

Go USA and Usain (I loved him)!

big school

Willie started preK this week at David Lipscomb Campus School. It's a big deal around here. For those of you who don't know DLCS is affiliated with Lipscomb University. We already know some folks and it's awfully convenient too.

Willie's teacher is great. I have overheard Willie multiple times telling those who genuinely inquire about who is his teacher is...."Her name is Miss Johnson. They say she is great!"

As roommom, I helped at registration and I got to meet all the kids and their parents. They seem "great" too. One parent worth mentioning is Steve McNair. His son is in a different class but also in PreK. I saw him a registration and thought about talking about Mississippi with him but I decided to table it and leave the man alone.

Willie did tell me today that there was one kid faster than him---really fast. After Jay and I quizzed him on his first name and skin color.....I ran to get the roster b/c I was certan it would have to be little McNair. Nope. There's probably going to be at least 2 faster....but I'm not telling Willie that.

We're back from the 'Sip.

Yes, we're back from the 'Sip! (I don't have any pictures to share b/c my camera disappeared...it's waiting for me in the church Lost & Found). I'll do my best to give a vivid description of an absolutely WONDERFUL visit home.

We headed straight to Lawrence County to visit the Wallace's (8 hour drive from Nashville)then we wrapped up with a couple of nights in Starkville with the Walton's.

When Jay said, he'd rather visit Mississippi a hundred times before going to Disney World.....it summed it up. You see you get all of the following on this trip:

REMOTE- LC is very rural in southwest Mississippi. Our cell phone reception is sketchy and email is only possible if you ride into town. No sense in having Internet access out in the country b/c you can't get a cable connection and the satellite connection just doesn't cut it (so I hear)...so we get a chance to truly disconnect

RELAXED Country living- I'm not so sure it's very relaxed for mama and daddy since we unleash our kids, kick back while they treat us like the prodigal son welcoming us home with wonderful food and celebrations (all while the work at the Sheriff's Dept keeps brewing); and mom washes our clothes just like the old days

CULTURAL experiences- some of you know that my mom basically runs the Sheriff's office (she can keep most any group straight). Daddy is the under sheriff (which a term I had never heard of until two terms ago...2nd to the Sheriff). Basically, they do a heap of work around there which gives us insight into the a world we know nothing about. Alot of this world is very sad, but it does provide some thought provoking insight into how economics and education can affect generation after generation. Alot of the folks there do not have alot of opportunity. The only way that their lives can possibly escape such a cycle in my opinion is through the love of Christ....I'm very proud of mama and daddy for being the hands/feet of Christ in the everyday situations they face. Jay insists on shadowing daddy every year for at least of day of Sheriff work. I'll let Jay share some of those stories with you over dinner. (Thanks, Daddy, for for letting your favorite son-in-law tag along when he comes to town.)

FRIED food--that includes fried catfish and fried hushpuppies. I probably gained at least 5 pounds. Going to the "fish house" is a must for me when I visit. We were in "a fix" though b/c fish houses are only open Thurs/Fri/Sat nights. (We didn't have a Thurs night and we camped on Friday/Saturday so what to do????) We opted for catfish at lunch and drove 20 miles to the Country Fisherman in the next county....worth every minute of such a commute. I should go ahead and mention that our last meal before heading home was at Little Dooey's in Starkville where we enjoyed BBQ and fried green tomatoes, fried egg plant, fried pickles, and fried onions (you got it...the sampler). My favorite? Besides catfish.....fried pickles hands down.

WATER PLAY- I previously alluded to this trip being "hot as hell..." Well, it wasn't so bad. It was hot but we kept ourselves wet or in the AC. When we camped, we tubed and knee boarded with family friends and Steven, Charity & Reagan. Jetskiis were Willie's favorite. Later in the week, we had a picnic on Tilton's creek at Mr. Clayton's camphouse which included a spring-fed creek that was ice cold. Then we took our annual swims at Uncle Joel's which might be one of the most beautiful settings I can imagine....the sky literally meets the grass with no obstructions from the poolview. Palm trees surround the pool and sometimes the cows come up to the fence and look in....I'm a country girl at heart.

BIKE TRAINING- Jay helped Willie work on his biking. Of course, Reagan (my nephew) wanted his training wheels off too....so Jay took on the challenge and in no time Reagan had his balance on the bike too. We will have those memories and good laughs forever.

SIDE TRIPS- Some might think that Lawrence County is in the middle of no where...maybe so but not if it becomes home (I didn't grow up there but my daddy did.) Also Hattiesburg is only an hour a way so we drove over to meet Russell (teammate of Jay's). We love catching up with them, checking out how much the kids have grown and reminiscing about the glory days including one unbelievable run to the Final Four. Then New Orleans is a couple hours away. Jay planned yet another wonderful time together for just the two of us in the Big Easy. Our goal was to eat 3meals of yet another favorite cuisine and hear some good music. We easily accomplished both. We enjoyed gumbo, po-boys, shrimp & grits, shrimp creole, and, of course, beignets. I bought a cute dress for our dinner only after getting another dress stuck on my sticky sweaty body resulting my arms started cramping from being so sore from knee boarding which then resulted in me calling Jay into the dressing room to extricate me before I went into a full-scale panic......Of course, all worth a cute dress.

STARKVILLE- We are loving having Jay's parents closer to us in Starkville. We wrapped up a very eventful week with a restful and peaceful visit in Starkville.It's so cool to get to visit our college hometown much more often now. We enjoyed family meals (where the Walton's still religiously serve us fresh Gulf Coast boiled shrimp) and riding bikes a slow-traffic neighborhood. Willie really mastered the bike in Starkville. Jeff, Jay and I took Willie to ride on the drill field at State which was a surreal sight for me.....to see Willie riding and Ruby running around on the drill field that I shared with my college boyfriend (jay) just dreaming and hoping for such a future. Oh, there was a pick-up game of cricket going on with some guys from Sri Lanka. Willie walked up to them and entered himself in the game. Evidently, he cannot resist a pick-up game of any kind.

FAMILY and FRIENDS- Lace all of this stuff with Love and you beat Disney. We never get to see everyone we want too, but we grateful for visits with grandparents, aunts/uncles, great-grandparents, brothers, nephews, parents and friends.

Thank God for the 'Sip.