And "the Cloud" is lifting.....

I've been thinking the cloud (of sickness) was lifting for the last 3 days but today's the first REAL day that I felt a little like myself....

1) I brushed my hair and teeth in the same hour today. There were days this week that both didn't happen in the same day.

2) I cared enough to put things away and carry something with me to the other end of the house in every trip. (that's my BIG secret ....don't walk anywhere for any reason without taking something that belongs in that area)

3) I walked to the other end of the house. Most days this week....I didn't leave my bed.

4) We left the house and actually went somewhere. First time, I went voluntarily anywhere since Tues afternoon. We went to Ghouls at Grassmere (Halloween event at the zoo). It was great to get out of the house, but WAY too cold.

5) I am grateful again! I have grown a grateful heart about the smallest of things in the last few years, but I don't remember saying thank you for anything this week. I was just surviving... As I get better, I am thankful for the sickly days as I truly am grateful for our health.

Can't wait to share pics of Willie's Halloween costume with you which he donned at Ghouls at Grassmere....coming soon!

Funny stuff

Now, it's just funny to me how girls Willie sees occasionally and I've never seen him have much of a conversation with evidently know him much better than I thought.

We were set to host our Sunday School party this weekend in our backyard. Well, God sent some serious thunderstorms so we pulled together a rain location (which worked perfectly). After the party, one of my girl friends from church told me that she was telling her carpool (2nd graders) on the way home that tonight was a church party and they needed to go home rest up and get ready for the church party. They retorted...."church party.....I thought it was Willie's party?" She started to try to explain it was originally at Willie's house but they kept on about Willie so she eventually explained that "Willie's party" had been moved to the church.

Today, another dear friend who is expecting was sharing that they were coming up with a list of boy names. Their 3 year old was helping come up with names and her # 1 favorite name was "Willie. "

This stuff makes me chuckle (for now)!

A few favorites

Some of favorite things in life have converged this week......

1) Autumn is my favorite season. The leaves are just starting to turn here and we're having more crisp days than warm ones. It's our first fall season in this house which is surrounded by hills. Well, we call them mountains, and I can't wait to see them in full fall colors.



2) My favorite times with the kids are when we are playing at home. It's the place where you get to hear their imaginations at work. And the extra bonus is when you play in your pj's until your nap time.




Willie generally acts out football games with live commentary by him on every play. Tonight he said....

WW: Mom, you know how people who smoke are infected?

Me: You mean addicted?

WW: Yeah, well I think I'm addicted to football:) and I'm really addicted to the Miami Dolphins. (???)



3) I absolutely love fabric. I love going to fabric stores and dreaming about how to use beautiful fabrics. Mom, I know you wanted to see this kitchen valance. The picture doesn't do it justice but you get the idea, and the beads are so yummy you could eat them! My grandmother Mary Sue had a fabric store once. She passed away when I was 4 yet I've always felt so close to her. I realized just the other day she surely loved fabric as much as me.

4) Basketball season. Of course, I could do without the pressure it can bring, and the crazy schedules can be well, crazy.....but I love the season on the whole. Practice is one week from tomorrow. Pre season polls came out this week and guess who was picked #1 in the coaches' poll? Check out www.lipscombsports.com for the full news story. Adnon was named to the pre-season all-conference team which tickles me when I remember all the hours Jay spent recruiting him!

Well, I'm signing off before my favorite day of the week arrives here in the next half hour. Hope you all get to enjoy a favorite of yours this weekend!

September Games

September has just flown by! Fall ball is underway. I told a fellow coach's wife (baseball) the other day.....I can't imagine being married to a baseball coach. I mean those games are so long, they play like 3 in one weekend and I hate a foul ball (which she can relate to since she got hit by a foul ball in the press box at Vandy). BUT---I could watch Willie play baseball all day long which might be a good thing b/c he rated our family sport of basketball as his third favorite sport today. (It goes like this right now football, baseball, basketball.) Here's Willie with his first game ball of the season. He was the lead-off batter the other night and hit a home run first hit of the game.

Then there's the college football season....the Vandy game with the Wallace's was quite soggy, but the DAWGs fought it out. We spent much of that Saturday scouring the city for ponchos and water boots. They were a selling out fast but so worth the hunt!

Thank you, my dear family, for coming so far to be with us. I love yall! You know we play MTSU in just a few weeks if you want to do it all again!

Weekend Wows!

We had alot of Wows this weekend!

Ruby was wowed by the red polish that Ronda whipped out of her purse at the volleyball match on Friday night.

Jay and I were wowed that our kids woke up later than usual on Saturday and didn't wake us up. We woke up to the sweet wisdom that Willie was sharing with Ruby in the kitchen as he fixed her breakfast. He peeled a hard boiled egg (previously boiled), toasted her waffle, provided her fruit and made her some chocolate milk by himself. Jay and I just laid there in our nearby room listening to their sweet exchanges.

After some exercise, we headed out for a little Saturday fun and ended up at the Greek Fest....I'm guessing it's our 8th annual trip. The Greek food, of course, wows me and Jay. The games and pony rides wow our kids.

After some rest, Jay and I headed out to the Symphony with Kate and Brandon. The symphony presented an Americana show which connected all kinds of music in America's history including a bluegrass/country flair that I totally appreciated and surprise visit from Emmy Lou Harris. But the wow moment of the night for us was when "Honeyboy" Edwards feebly took the stage. He's a Shaw, Miss boy that's only 94 years old. He wrote Sweet Home Chicago.

Check out his tour schedule at http://www.davidhoneyboyedwards.com/. He'll be in London next week. Honeyboy is the last living legend that played with Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues. We were fortunate enough to be invited to the after-party to meet the musicians.

Here's us with HoneyBoy! Is Jay not at one of his happiest moments?! We, of course, talked to him about the Sip and Jay asked him if he knew Jay's elderly friend from Shaw, Boo Ferris (also a living legend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Ferriss ). To which Honey Boy replied, "yeah, that's old WD Ferris' boy...." that cracked us up b/c he was remembering the generation before Boo.

Wow! I'm grateful we still have so much fun together.

After church on Sunday, we took some long naps with intermittent football and tennis (both in our backyard and on TV). Plus we got some house projects done as we welcome family this coming weekend in anticipation of a big WOW from our beloved Bulldogs.

Apple Orchard

Morning Glory!

Morning Glory Apple Orchard that is.

Mrs. Thompson's Class.

My favorites are getting to know the other parents and counting the # of moms who tell me that their daughter is Willie's girlfriend:) I didn't know which girlfriend to include here so I chose one of his best buddies, Teddy.

Football and Family Weekend!

Starkville was rocking this weekend with the third largest crowd ever. Dan Mullen debuted with a victory. We got to cheer for the football players as they unloaded off the bus....quite the interesting fashion show may I add. Willie was not overly impressed as you might think he would be. I think he's a bit of a resentful fan and I hope he might come around one day. He did cheer for State but I think Jay told him he couldn't go to the game if he didn't. The Vandy game is here this year and I'm afraid that Willie might not come around for our Bulldogs. Willie's favorite part was playing football himself at the tailgate with Reagan and Uncle Steven. During a rain delay, two trainers were on the field tossing the ball, Willie said, "Mom, can I go down there and throw the football?" We had good seats at the game; but we were over half way up the stadium. He was so serious:)


We're so grateful that Jay's family lives in Starkville now. We get to visit sacred ground to us everytime we visit family.

A couple of unexpected highlights.....We saw several of Jay's college teammates this weekend including Rula, Super D, Marcus, Big Damp plus Coach Stansbury. Hard to believe that Erick is still going strong for the Mavericks (13 years). And Jay and I shared with Jeff's youth group on Sunday night! A big treat to share our relationship blessings of 18 years with them.


We made it home in 5 hours today, and we had the yard cut and kids in bed before dark. Actually, the kids put themselves in bed!