Football, Parties, and Swimming

I don't remember sleeping this past weekend, although I'm sure I did - at some point.

Friday night was the jamboree game at Julien's school.
We got our first look at the new uniforms, and I think they look great!


As I mentioned, the heat was pretty obnoxious, and Addie was miserable.


I only got the camera out one time and it took effort to even do that.
I think at game time, the temperature had cooled off to a chilly 93 degrees.



Over four hours later, we were heading home.

Saturday held a variety of fun and exciting times.
While preparing to leave the house for the day, we heard a ruckus in the kitchen that ended up being the handy work of D**n't Rudy.

Once all the broken glass was removed from various areas of the kitchen, we headed out to celebrate Chris's birthday with my family.


We met at Chuy's for what appeared to be a low key kind of celebration.
Addie didn't hesitate to beg for a ball of dough to play with, and she was more than happy to wipe the excess flour all over my shirt.


Lunch was commencing as expected until out of seemingly nowhere, a guide dog appeared with her owner.
The large doggy, walked right past our table, minding her business the entire time despite the shriek of terror coming from my child.
My happy Little Monkey went from eating her lunch to climbing onto my lap, then my niece's lap, then her Daddy's lap, all in an effort to get as far away from the doggy as she could.
Addie made such a scene, that one of the other lady's at the table with the doggy came over and talked to me.
I reassured her that we knew the doggy was well trained and absolutely harmless, but that Addie has trouble understanding some things, especially when they are out of place - and unexpected.

The appearance of the doggy, was a lunch ender, and a mood changer.

She was one very nervous girl.


My mom, sister, and niece helped Julien watch Addie for the rest of the day and evening so Chris and I could go out.
We were pretty excited about some alone time and took advantage of the opportunity.
Life was going swell, right up to the point where I fell - and injured my knee.
It was a very precious - and priceless moment.

AND,
the last three times that Chris and I have been out alone together, it has resulted in an injury or serious illness - for me.

In May, I fell in the parking lot of a nice, and very busy, restaurant and injured my wrist.
In June, I had the lovely experience of having the full attention of numerous firefighters, paramedics, guards and various medical staff - resulting in a trip to the hospital - via ambulance.
Then, this past Saturday - BAM, a knee injury that hurt way more than my pride.

After my husband bought alcohol (and not the kind I really needed), bandages and antibiotic ointment and got the bleeding stopped and me bandaged up, I didn't really feel like heading on to dinner or much of anywhere else.
We put in a dinner order to go and then sat and relaxed - in the middle of Costco - until time to leave to pick up dinner.

Really - you shouldn't be so jealous.
It's not quite as glamorous as it all sounds.


After heading home, lounging around in my self pity and talking to my family, Chris went into the kitchen to clean up.
After all, we were celebrating his birthday, so it was only fair that he ended up doing all the work for the entire rest of the evening.
As he was loading the dishwasher, he broke a glass.
Our day ended just as it had begun, cleaning up yet one more mess.


In hopes of dulling the pain of the day before, we headed over to my brother's house on Sunday to spend the day swimming.
This allowed Chris the opportunity to enjoy his real birthday day with not a whole lot of work involved.
...and water therapy does wonders for a busted, sore knee.
Swimming all afternoon made Addie incredibly happy...and even more exhausted than she already was.

We arrived home Sunday evening to find Rudy guarding Julien's sandals that had spent the entire weekend hanging out in the kitchen - 
because it takes just too much effort to actually move them to a more appropriate place.


Monday is wrapping up and no one has incurred new injuries or broken anything else.
We are off to a great start to the work week!


Busy Little Monkey

Addie is staying very busy, so busy that she is exhausted at days end.
Rudy is taking advantage of it and sneaking in as much snuggle time as he can.


Helena High had their jamboree this past Friday night and we somehow braved the heat for four hours in support of our team.
I can't tell you how many times Addie asked to go home.
After a busy day at school and then being out in the heat all night, she was sleepy and cranky.
The biggest highlight of her night was when Julien came to the fence to say hi to her in between games.
The ridiculous Alabama weather has to slack off in order to give us any chance of enjoying football season.


From Friday night football to Saturday birthday parties to Sunday swimming, Addie didn't have any downtime.
In just a few shorts hours, her routine will start all over again - and, dance will be starting again soon too.
My busy little Monkey's days will get, even busier.

School Life

We have definitely settled into our new routine and everybody seems a little happier.

Addie absolutely loves school and that makes life so much easier!
Addie's teachers, aides and coaches are all very impressed with her ability to remember the daily routine.
From knowing where to sit in PE to the rules in the hallways, Addie has seemed to fall right back into sync with school life.
She has had a few moments where she has become upset, but understandably so due to the circumstances of each situation.
She still gets tired during the day, but after resting, is very much ready to tackle the remainder of her day.
Some days she comes home tired and irritable and other days, like today, she comes home happy and full of smiles and giggles.
As soon as we got home, she asked to paint.
Before I even bothered to change out of my work clothes, I got her art supplies for her.
When Addie is able to verbally express her wants or needs, I try my best to drop what I'm doing and respond to her.
Any time she requests something out of the normal flow of our day, is a pretty special moment.
She is fantastic about remembering daily habits and routines, but it's still so rare to hear her express something all on her own.



We attended open house at Julien's school last night and had a great time meeting his teachers and seeing more of the school.
Addie was there with us and was in the midst of sensory overload with the activity of going from class to class and the flurry of students and parents everywhere.
She clung tight to Chris, Julien or me and every once in a while, she got up the nerve to run through the hallways in order to keep up with Julien.
Julien was happy to have her with him.

He is happy and enjoying school and managed to obtain his vessel license this week.
and...next comes his driver's license.


Scrimmage 2014

In preparation for the start of football season, our little town held "Husky Day" at our new high school.
Kids from the youth flag football team all the way up to high school varsity participated in scrimmage games.
It appears the day was a success, the home team stands were completely packed, and we ran into so many people who came out just to watch the kids play although they didn't have any children attending the schools.
It's a pretty exciting time in our town right now.

If this is the way it was for just a scrimmage, I can't wait to see what our first home game looks like!


We have a great group of kids on the junior varsity and varsity teams.



Julien is #76 this year.


It was a lot of fun watching them
and
Addie took advantage of the hours at the field and conned her Daddy out of money for a hot dog, chips, icee, popcorn and ice cream bar.



We are entering "groundhog day season".
I'll be posting what appears to be the same pictures over, and over, and over.



It was after 9:00, after Addie's bedtime and the guys couldn't wrap it up fast enough.
Addie kept asking to go, "home".


Football season 2014 - here we go!

Compliments to the Dress Maker

Sometime back in the spring, I ran across the most adorable outfits made from Ann Kelle fabric.
Instead of ordering one of the outfits immediately, I passed up the deals and spent the next few months regretting it.

I finally managed to find the fabric again sometime in June - at a shop - in Hawaii.
After verifying previous customer reviews, I placed my custom order for Addie's dress.

The dress arrived well before the four week time frame indicated and it perfectly met my expectations.

As soon as Addie saw the dress, her eyes lit up and she placed her hands above her head and asked, "Ballerina?".



A HUGE thank you to Palm Tree Princess for exceeding my expectations for my ballerina on her first day of 1st Grade!

....and I somehow managed to purchase another dress from Palm Tree Princess, that came with a matching doll dress....
it arrived faster than expected and is still wrapped in precious packaging waiting for the right time to give it to Addie.

I have found a new favorite dress shop for my Little Monkey.
Addie was so proud of her new ballerina dress and knowing how much the little things makes her happy, just melts my heart.




Second Day of School

Addie wouldn't go to sleep for nothing after her first day of school. 
 She talked non-stop for hours!
She was so excited about getting back to her friends and teachers. 

 Day two - she was just as excited - but so sleepy!

I am so blessed that this Little Monkey loves school so much, and that she is so well taken care of each day.





First Day of School 2014!

Julien and Addie both had a wonderful first day, which makes me very happy!

Our beautiful new high school opened today, and we are most fortunate to live in a community that has so much pride in our schools.


Addie had her choice between two dresses for this morning, and she chose the "ballerina" dress - and she loved it!
(my compliments to the dress maker in a later post).


They were both so ready to go!
Julien was excited to get to his new high school (and see his friends) and Addie was thrilled just to be going back to school.

First day of 10th Grade and 1st Grade was a success!


Horrible picture quality, but that's what a rushed cell phone picture gets me because nobody had time to stop because it was already 6:40!
I still had to post it just to show how much Julien has grown - and because he is just freakin' adorable!


Monkey girl couldn't stop giggling long enough to take a picture!


Showing off her new backpack and lunch bag.
Yes, it bothers me that they don't match, but I realize how fortunate we are that we are able to buy our children school supplies and attire for the new school year, so I try to keep my crazy contained and the important things in perspective.
I have her backpack that matches her lunch bag, but it was huge on her, so I had to improvise at the last minute (thanks eBay!).


Yes, that is a baby stuffed into her backpack...shhh...


This picture had me laughing so hard!
Addie knew that Julien was distracted with taking pictures, so she reached over and touched his Jeep.
I'm sure you can imagine how many times she has been told, "NO TOUCHING!".


Her inner dinosaur emerging...????
My Baby Boy looks rather handsome propped against his Jeep.


Getting a little nervous in car rider line.


Last minute pictures before getting out of the car.


Julien loved this one because he said she looks like a screaming Monkey - duh.


One of my favorites - waiting patiently to put her backpack on and get out of the car.
She is so sweet.


I am so thankful for this wonderful day!

Meet the Teacher

While we had to say goodbye to Mrs. Allison, 


we are so incredibly beyond thankful for being able to keep our beloved Mrs. Anita!



Mrs. Megan will be Addie's new Special Education Teacher, and Addie is already familiar with her from seeing her in school these past two years.
She is going to love Mrs. Megan!


As you can see in the background, Addie's new classroom has a cupcake theme, which made Addie very happy!
I didn't get a picture of Addie's new 1st Grade Teacher, but she seems very sweet and I know Addie will grow to love her too.


Celebrating Nine Years!

My sweet girl had a very busy day! We spent the day by having lunch at one of Addie's favorite restaurants, then I took her s...