Bait

(2014) THANKS A LOT, Brandon Taylor!  He went fishing today after school and when he came home to change to go out to dinner with his pals, he left behind a HUGE half of a dead worm on the kitchen floor!  It must have been on his clothes or something and dropped off.  Lily and I are FREAKING OUT!  It is currently covered with an empty Ramen Noodle box until Bran gets home to pick it up so we don't have to look at it.  I am NOT touching it with a ten foot pole ... it's really grossing me out!  I called Skeet at the ball field to drive home and pick it up, and can you believe he just laughed?!  :)  The JOYS of living with males ...

Love, Dad

(2016) How do you summarize 14 years of baseball?  You attach a picture of BT heading off to his first T-ball game, you blink, then you attach a picture after his last high school game. 14 years of sweat, dirt, snacks, concession duty, rides to and from, practice, games, cages, shagging flies, conditioning, wins, losses, ties, scrapes, bruises, cleats, gloves, bats, joy and tears. Not one single thing would I change. Our goal was to use baseball to help teach him how to be a team player, to be gracious in victory and defeat, to play by the rules, and to never give up. He ended up teaching me every bit as much and more. What an incredible journey it has been. Thanks for letting me tag along buddy.

Dairy Queen

(2012) You gotta love 3rd grade baseball ... it was super hot at the field, one kid overheated, one kid broke his thumb, the team lost .... but the coaches took them to Dairy Queen after the game so all was right with the world!  Apparently, a chocolate dipped ice cream cone is the best cure for just about anything when you're 8 years old!

Coughing

(2012) Lily kept coughing tonight so I told her I needed to give her some cough medicine.  She thought a minute and said, "No Mom, I need some NOT cough medicine."  Good point, actually!!!

Livin the Dream

(2014) Yep .... Middle school is on the horizon!  Dyl asked tonight if he could invite some GIRLS to his birthday party at the skating rink.  Those ole yucky girls aren't seeming so bad anymore! 😉. The more things change, the more they stay the same ... girls, pizza, and and skating rinks STILL add up to livin' the dream for an eleven year old boy!

Bandaid

(2013) Lily Claire had her five year old check up today to get ready for Kindergarten registration on Thursday. When discussing her finger prick tonight, she said to me, "I needed a band-aid for my finger today because the doctor shot it."

Trash

Most HORRIBLE event of my day.... I noticed that the outside recycle bin was full of rain water so I gingerly picked it up and dumped out the water right near my foot. Out slid a stiff drowned mouse ... I FREAKED and am still completely creeped out!  I think I may have to take a sick day tomorrow for severe mental distress and trauma!! This definitely ranks up there with the time the squirrel jumped out at me from the outdoor trashcan onto my shoulder ... I am no longer having anything to do with the trash around here!!

Uno

I am cracking up at this post on my wall "Jennifer likes Uno and The Bible."  I hope God knows it's not necessarily in that order! :)

Made in China

(2016) Life with Dylan 101.
He was assigned a project in his Social Studies class to learn about China. His task was to bring in a Chinese artifact of some sort and explain about it to the class.
Me: "How did your Social Studies sharing go today? What did you take in for your Chinese artifact?"
Dylan: (whipping out a John Cena wrestling action figure). "This."
Me: (dumbfounded) What? Why?!!  John Cena has NOTHING to do with China!!
Dylan (emphatically): "Yes he does, Mom!  It says right here on his foot, 'Made In China'!"

Great. Can't wait to see the stellar grade we get on that one.

Hooligan

(2013) Had a nice ride with Brandon at the wheel this evening after supper!  He took me up to Kroger to buy some flowers for the kitchen, then we stopped by Grammie and Papaw's house to say hello!  He did a great job!  Tomorrow he's going to drive us to church.  Best quote of the night from Bran:  When a car in front of us didn't use a turn signal, Bran shook his head and said, "Geez.  What a hooligan."  Cracked me up!

Integrity

My third graders are apparently getting a bit mixed up with our fancy terminology from the year! We talk a LOT about the word INTEGRITY, and in the hall before lunch today, I was giving a little reminder...
Me:  Ok guys, remember to make good choices in the cafeteria today even when the monitor is not looking at you.
Kids: (nodding, agreeing enthusiastically) We will, Mrs. Taylor!
Me: What do we call it when we do the right thing even when no one is watching?
Of course, I’m expecting the answer “integrity,” which we say all the time. So, I call on a little guy frantically waving his hand, looking really confident.
Me: Yes, Nate?
Nate: I know, Mrs. Taylor!! It’s having PROTAGONIST!!
We all stare in silence for a moment looking confused. 😂
Me: Ummm, not quite, dude, it’s INTEGRITY, but pretty impressive!
Nate and I both cracked up! Guess all our big words from the year have gotten a little jumbled up in our third grade brains with summer so close! Integrity... protagonist... yeah, close enough. 😂😂

Rolly Poleys

(2013) Today's life lesson for a nine year old boy (aka, Dylan) .... Don't leave your tennis shoes outside overnight in the spring unless you want to freak out when you find them on the way to school in the morning and they are covered with a zillion rolly poleys!!!!  Cracked me up!!

Walgreens

We had a "Men Are From Mars" moment tonight as Skeet and I were getting ready for a formal "gala" event we were attending.  I have a very pretty  black clutch purse with little rhinestones on it that I was going to use this evening to carry my phone and some lipstick,etc.  Well I realized once we were here that I had left it at home.  Trying to help me solve the problem, Skeet suggested, "We could stop at Walgreens on the way and get one."  Hmmmm ... I don't recall a section in Walgreens that carries satin rhinestone evening bags, but thanks for trying, honey!!!  Cracked me up!  I'm pretty sure Walgreens DOES carry everything ever needed in "man" world so it seemed like a logical idea for him, I'm sure!

Lyrics

(2014) Lily and I were riding home from the baseball game and Zac Brown's new song "Homegrown" came on the radio (which is great song, by the way!).  One of the lines in the song said, "Got a good looking woman with her arms 'round me."  Lily asked me why the song just said, "Got a good looking mama that tastes like meat."  I cracked up!

Elliptical

What a sad state of affairs! I JUST found the power cord for an elliptical we bought a YEAR ago (yes, already a sad story), but tonight I was FINALLY going to get on it and do at least 20 minutes. I envisioned myself leisurely strolling along on it for 20 minutes every evening after school watching some romantic BBC movie on the fancy tablet holder.  Ummmm ... I have now done FIVE minutes and my muscles are throbbing, and I’m lying dead across the floor sweating under the ceiling fan!!! I had to stop and rest after TWO! Not only that, but I was panting too hard to even HEAR the Jane Austen show on the darn tablet! Wow. Guess my NEW REVISED goal for tomorrow is SIX minutes on the elliptical and maybe a couple of brief GLANCES at Mr. Darcy before collapsing! #48creptuponme #persevere