Crazy Days on the Horizon

I am headed out of town (as in right this very minute) to spend the night with my girlfriend down south. Tomorrow is our bookclub meeting which is being held at a restaurant in Miami Beach at 2:00 PM.  We will be leaving directly from there and heading straight back here for my friend's annual RAK party at 7:00. We'll no doubt be fashionably late but it's important to me that I make both events.

Come Sunday I will be planning/shopping/cleaning/baking for a visit from my extended family for the Thanksgiving holiday.  (Unfortunately Jay, Colleen and Fin are unable to attend but everyone else with be here.)  I am anticipating next week to be very hectic so I'm using this moment to officially call a Blog Break.  :-)

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with those that they love.  See ya in December!

High School Sports News

Our varsity basketball players had their first game of the season last night.  Meg was a bit nervous but there was no need.  They were fabulous.

I promised her that I wouldn't be that mom.  As a compromise I took my zoom lens and kept an inconspicuous distance away from the girls.  (For the most part anyway.)  The result was about two dozen really bad gymnasium photos.  My apologies up front.



The girls and JV players waiting to greet the varsity squad....

Her varsity squad consists of twelve girls, freshman through senior.  Something new to me is the fact that they cheer from a small set of bleachers behind one of the hoops.  They're getting their spacing determined here...

Meg is the tall blond in the back.




They take the floor between quarters and half time.

I was very surprised at the small crowd.  It's been over 35 years since I've attended a high school basketball game but "back in the day, in a tiny town in the midwest" we had huge crowds. Last night both sets of fans shared the home side.  I'm not sure if this is always the case but hopefully the Friday night games draw a larger audience.


I love that Meg is involved, having fun and making new friends.

Our guys played well winning their first game of the season.

In other sports news, our varsity girls won the Class 6A state volleyball title last week.   How awesome is that?

 

Fin Finale

Today I'm sharing the last of our Weekend with Fin photos.

Fin is an early riser.  Much earlier than his grandma but we (I) managed. After his morning bottle we took the dogs out to do their morning duties.  Bitzy was first and unfortunately I didn't have my phone with me.  As you will see, Fin likes to be "in charge."

Next up was Marley...

(I'm still in love with this shark stroller.  LOL!)

Fin didn't cry much during his visit but I soon discovered that taking away the dog leash did not make him happy.



The third and final dog (thank goodness!) was Jasmine...

They made a great pair.


After that was breakfast...scrambled eggs.  (His first choice was dog food but I managed to get that up and out of his way before he actually got a taste.)  Like I mentioned earlier, he didn't cry much at all the entire weekend but while I was fixing his eggs I heard a wail.  When I turned around, I saw this....

 


bwhahahahahaha!  He was NOT happy but neither was he in any danger so of course I had to snap a photo before rescuing him.  :-)


Thankfully his breakfast was ready and he was a happy guy once again.

As were the dogs who all crowded around the chair and patiently waited for discards.  They were not disappointed.   :-)

Breaking News

I'm going to do a bit more jumping around because yesterday this happened....





The boy is bipedal.  :-)

Park Photos

I'm sorry to be skipping around but I'm determined to share the photos from our recent weekend with Fin.  Today we're time traveling back to October 24th for our trip to the neighborhood park.














It's hard to capture his true excitement in still photos so it's always nice to have a short video.





Did you catch his panting?  ROFL!




Meg gave him a "ride" on the horse, one of her favorite spots as a toddler.

And no trip to the park is complete without a crawl through the tunnel.

The prize for finishing?

Mulch, of course.  His favorite.

Let's Go Falcons!

Meg came home from cheer practice last week with her new uniform.  She obliged me by trying it on and trust me, it was all I could do to hold back all of my "paparazzi mom" instincts.  After a minute or so she finally said rather disappointingly, "You're not going to take a picture?"

Hurray!

Their first game is next Tuesday.  I'm not sure which of us is more excited.  *blush*

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Randomness....

We saw our first coyote yesterday.  It wasn't within the confines of our development but close enough.  (Plenty close enough.)  We passed it while driving to tutoring yesterday which really struck me as odd since most sightings have been in the early AM or after dark.  (A neighbor three doors down saw two in her front yard around 11:00 PM last week.)

It truly was a beautiful animal.  I just wish they weren't cat killers.  grrr!

Friday Focus on Finley

It's taken a week but I'm slowly weeding through the photos of Fin snapped during his last visit here.  I'm starting off with some less than stellar photos of our visit to the local pumpkin patch.  Between the poor lighting (most of the pumpkins are under a tent) and Fin's total aversion to looking at the camera, it was a rather disappointing photo shoot but time well spent nontheless.

Our trip would not have been complete without a spin on Meg's favorite playground equipment.  I have so many photos of her on this same whirly thing-a-ma-jig over the years and she was thrilled to have an excuse to ride it again.

For the record, spinning them while taking photos was no easy feat.  LOL!

I think this was probably Fin's favorite part of the visit as well.  Playing in the hay/mulch/dirt was a close second.  :-)

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Last night's book club meeting was a great success and we're looking forward to our monthly gatherings.  Interestingly, the book suggested for next month's meeting was The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  As you all know, it was the September selection for my other book club and one of my favorite books of late.  Because it is such a fabulous story I refused to let them to change it on my account.  I could talk about it all day so I'm actually looking forward to discussing it with a different group of ladies.  :-)  

Book Club

Tonight I'm hosting the first official meeting of our new local book club.  Our first selection was Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee and I'm sure it will spark a lot of discussion.

We agreed to keep our meetings simple and fuss-free but anyone who knows me realizes that fuss-free isn't really in my vocabulary.  I'm compromising with my inner self by making a big pot of this White Chicken Chili, not to be confused with the Ruby Tuesdays' recipe that I usually make. They are both delicious but quite a bit different.  I made Mel's version a few weeks ago and it was a hit. Since it's also the easier of the two to prepare, it became my choice for this evening.  Other members will be bringing various appetizers and wine while I'll provide chilled water and assorted beers.

I'm really looking forward to our meeting and come tomorrow, I'll be starting in on Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen for my Miami book club group which meets on November 21st.  So many books, so little time.

All Hallows' Eve

Saturday night was Halloween but you sure wouldn't have known it in our neighborhood.  Our subdivision has large acre lots complete with long driveways (and no sidewalks) so over the years the littles and their parents have discovered that it's much easier to trick or treat in neighboring developments. We've always had at least a couple stray trick or treaters but this year our doorbell was silent the entire night.  :-(

Meg was fairly bummed when she realized that I meant to stick to my "no trick or treating past middle school" rule.  Because many of her girlfriends were headed out door to door we compromised with the agreement that she could meet up with them post trick or treating.  Before you think me the "meanest mom ever" Gavin came over around 4:00 (to escape having to trick or treat with his four year old sister) and together they watched a couple of movies.  At 9:00 she met up with her friends on "the scary chain saw street" and a bit later they gathered here until around midnight.

Now for some photos....

Meg's "let's throw together a costume on Friday night" Halloween attire....

With kitty whiskers later that evening ...

And with her three amigos at our house....

While Meg may be too old to beg for candy, there is another certain someone in our family who is not.

There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever as to the mastermind behind this costume. Jay was totally in to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when he was in elementary school (think late 80s and early 90s) and I know without asking that he was super excited for the opportunity to buy and wear this t-shirt.  LOL!!! Fin, of course, looks absolutely adorable.

They spent their afternoon at a children's event at their local zoo.  I absolutely {heart} this photo of the standoff between "the turtle" and the wild animals in what I believe to be the gift shop.  

Isn't that the cutest?

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And in case anyone is wondering, yes, I am still procrastinating last weekend's photos.  *sigh*