Crusader's Weekly Bible Verse #2

Well here is Bubba's second Bible verse from Kindergarten.  It seems very fitting since we've already had to have the talk about obedience in class.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

Seems we also fell short when we highlighted last week's verse using the blue highlighter (or "highwater" as Bubba calls them).  Bubba said his teacher said to use Yellow.  We're off to a really good start!

Crusader's Bible Verse of the Week

Now that Bubba is in Kindergarten, he will learn a new Bible verse each week.  His teacher, Mrs. C., gives us the reference in his notebook, he brings his Bible home, we mark the verse and begin practicing it. My friend at work suggested that I share the verses he's learning, so here's the first one:

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

The verse has been highlighted in Bubba's Bible and he has recited it back to me, his Daddy and Grammy, so hopefully he'll remember it on Monday when he has to recite it for his teacher in class!

K is for Kindergarten

Well, the BIG day, August 24th, has come and gone - Bubba's first day of Kindergarten. He was excited about school and I was a ball of stress - Honey can vouch for that! 

Bubba got postcard in the mail from his teacher.

We had been to orientation the Monday night before and learned about lunch tickets and fundraisers and parking and dress codes.  I was surprised to learn that they were having a fundraiser selling donated school uniform items, so I was able to get Bubba 4 pairs of shorts and the official cobalt blue polo shirt complete with logo for $10! That sure saved me some money and time. Then we got to meet Bubba's teacher - Mrs. C.  Her daughter and I went to high school together, so she's a familiar face.  Mrs. C told us about resource classes - computer, art, library, music, Spanish and P.E. Wesley is still asking, "Mommy, what is P.E."  She told us the basic schedule of their day, the grading system, the folder that comes home every day with stuff to keep and stuff to return, etc. and memorizing a Bible verse each week.

I love this photo of Bubba walking to school.

So, on his first day Honey and I were both able to take him to his new classroom.  All the children were in their assigned seats and all the parents were standing around waiting to see what would happen next.  I finally realized I was the last parent standing in the doorway and Mrs. C said "He's fine.  Are you okay?"  I said yes, I'm okay, but not really.  I cried all the way to work.

Domino's Pizza Tracker

Has anyone out there ordered a pizza online?  Saturday was our first experience.  Honey wanted Domino's.  He said they're all about customer service these days, so we went online to see what kind of pizza we wanted.  I'm your basic pepperoni girl, and he'll try just about anything, so he ordered the Cali Chicken Bacon Ranch on thin crust. The highlight of our evening turned out to be the Domino's Tracker - this online application that tracks your order from the time it  is received at the store to the time it leaves to be delivered.

It actually told us at 8:47 p.m. Sean received our order.  It proceeded to tell us our order was being prepped and when it went into the oven.  At 9 p.m., the tracker said Peggy had left the store to deliver our pizza.  I said well, she'll be here in about 15 minutes, and at 9:15 we had our pizzas.  Honey, Bubba and I sat there glued to the computer screen watching the progress on our pizzas - our Saturday night entertainment  I guess.

I have to admit, it was pretty cool.  The pizza was good - especially that Cali Chicken Bacon Ranch, and you couldn't beat that quick service!

Countdown to Kindergarten

I still cannot believe Bubba is starting Kindergarten this fall.  Well, actually 3 weeks from today!  If you ask him what August 24th is, he says "back to school" as he raises those cute little eyebrows.  It's back to school for him because he's going to the same place where he attended preschool, so I think that's why he's excited. He's looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. He has officially started counting the days.  I have always loved the back to school time of year because all the stores had the cool school supplies on sale!  It's been a while since I've had to buy them for myself, so now I actually have someone to buy them for.  Here's Bubba's school's K-5 supply list:

• NIV Bible
• Scissors (Crayola, Fiskars - no cover)
• Two large boxes of tissues to share
• Two packages of wet-wipes to share
• One container of hand sanitizer to share
• Backpack or book bag (no rolling bags)
• Kinder-mat no larger than 20' x 42'
• Stitched composition book
• 4 oz. bottle of Elmer's glue
• Box of band aids to share

Ok, notice anything unusual about this list? There's not a pencil, crayon or marker to be found!  I thought that was extremely odd, especially since I had already started a school supply box for him a while back and had started filling it with pencils, crayons and markers!  My Mom has already told me to just wait until he comes home with another list of things he needs to have for the next day!

So, the day the list arrived in the mail, I went to Wal-Mart and got everything on the list, except for the book bag, which I'll let him pick out.  And, I already had a brand new, never used composition book, so I saved 40 cents - woo hoo.  I didn't bother waiting for the State Sales Tax Holiday since the only items on his list that would have been tax free were the scissors and glue. My only issue was with the Bible I picked out - the cover is plain - it doesn't actually say "Holy Bible."  I didn't have a whole lot to choose from either.  I was really hoping Bubba could use the Bible I had for Kindergarten, but it's the King James Version.

Bubba is pretty much set in the school uniform area as well.  He has a polo shirt in almost every color JCPenney had.  I got them for $8.00 each - woo hoo!  His Grammy scored a deal on khaki and navy pants and shorts at Belk.

Another cool thing about Bubba starting Kindergarten is that his teacher is the mother of a friend of mine from high school.  How cool is that?  We got a welcome letter in the mail from her last week.

I don't know if Momma is ready for this big step or not!  My baby is growing up too fast! What a new adventure it will be...

Surprising Saturday

I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post! My friend Jamie over at Walkin' in High Cotton said I need to write if I want people to read!

I was pleasantly surprised when this past Saturday went mostly according to plan.  You see, usually I have grand ideas for what me and the family will accomplish on the weekends, but almost always something happens and the plans change.  First, we were excited to have Honey back home after a week away for work.  The trick was getting him rested up to participate in Saturday's fun family activities.  The first item on the agenda was to register Bubba for fall ball - T-ball (round two).  I was on the fence about registering him since his first season (this past spring), he had this take it or leave it attitude about the whole thing.  When he was playing he enjoyed it, but when he wasn't, he didn't seem to miss it.  But, when he pulled out his ball glove the other day and asked when he'd get to play T-ball again, I got my answer.

Bubba' first sports trophy - June 11, 2011

Next item on the agenda - take Bubba to see Cars 2 (finally!). We settled in with our popcorn, Skittles and soda just as the previews were wrapping up (whew!) and enjoyed the sequel's fast pace, the new characters and the occasional adult humor.  I doubt this sequel will enjoy the repeat play the original movie did from Bubba back when he was 1!

Bubba's Big Boy Room has a Cars theme. (2008)

After the movie we headed home to change into our bathing suits.  We had been invited by a family friend to come over for a dip in his pool.  Honey wants an in-ground pool in our backyard SO bad. Our friend's 3 and 1/2 year-old grandson Gavin was visiting for the weekend, so Bubba would have a friend to play with.  This would be our first opportunity for Bubba to show us what he's been learning during his swimming lessons at the Y too.  I intended to take my camera and walked right out the door without it.  I'm still kicking myself.

We probably spent 2 hours in the pool. At 89 degrees, the water was not as refreshing as we had hoped. At first it seemed Bubba was holding on to us for dear life, but he showed us how he could swim with a noodle and was doing great!  Thank goodness they're styrofoam because I think everyone got whacked in the head with it. Gavin and his Pop-Pop kept ducking underwater and eventually Bubba mustered up the courage to try.  That was huge for him since he doesn't like getting water in his face!  He went underwater a few times with his swim mask too. In the end, Bubba was jumping off the pool steps to us and loving it.  He didn't want to get out, but we were pickled...and hungry.

While my Mom, Bubba, Pop-Pop and Gavin went to our house for pizza and more playtime for the boys, Honey and I enjoyed dinner out.  Isn't it sad when you have the opportunity for a date night and you can't figure out where you want to eat? We ended up at Ruby Tuesday. He got steak.  I got shrimp.

Bubba and Gavin taking a spin in the Camaro on July 4th.

The boys were still playing when we got home.  I love that Bubba has a friend to play with.  They get along really well.  Bubba ended up spending the night at my Mom's (Grammy's) house.

I fell asleep as a thunderstorm approached.  What a perfect ending to a perfect day!

A Man and His Miter Saw

My husband (Honey) got a miter saw for Father's Day.  He went and picked it out himself the weekend before Father's Day saving me from wondering what to give him.  He already had his first project in mind...a light box for movie posters to hang in his Man Cave (the room over our garage).

First he had to find the perfect poster frame, then he sketched a design for the actual light box and went to Lowe's and bought wood.  Over the course of two weeks, Honey took over the garage, meaning there was no room to park the car.  He spent most of his free time tinkering out there building this box and making multiple trips to Lowe's. Sometimes Bubba helped him too.  Honey doesn't have any formal carpentry training.  He just learned a lot from his Dad growing up, and I'll just go ahead and brag - he's naturally talented and very creative with these sorts of things, which I love about him.  This new toy has sparked this creativity so much that now he's coming up with all sorts of ideas from planter boxes to crown molding in our master bathroom to custom built in bookcases in my craft room/office.  I can't complain about that...when do we start?

For now, I'll just show off his first completed the project...the movie poster light box, complete with a Tron poster.  Now I wish I had taken pictures of the construction in progress! And by the way Honey, Bubba wants one for his room too.

He added the decorative trim to the box and stained it.

The black metal poster frame attached to the light box.

Ta Da! Complete with a cool Tron poster.

So Cool!

The Man Cave looks more like a movie theater!

It's Fun to Play at the Y-M-C-A

When I signed Bubba up for summer camp at the local YMCA, I was told he would either cry because he was having so much fun he didn't want to leave or he would fall asleep in the car on the way home from playing so hard all day.  After nearly two weeks at camp, Bubba still needs convincing.  Afterall, the only other place he's known since he was a baby was our church's daycare/preschool.  Thankfully several of his friends from preschool are at camp.  Everyone is so nice and welcoming at the Y (although very unorganized!), and after just a few days everyone knew Bubba's name.

Bubba posing in his official Y Camp field trip t-shirt.

It's hard to get details from Bubba about how his days at the Y are going, but so far he's been on a field trip to the Virginia Aquarium (the sharks were his favorite) and Hunt Club Farm (pony rides and petting zoo).  He likes the playground at school, and he's been in the big outdoor pool a few times - swimming lessons are coming soon!  Last Friday, they had a bunch of bounce houses set up and they according to Bubba were "totally awesome."

I'm hoping for more reports of "totally awesome."

Meet the Fur Children

I love cats.  I had one growing up named Tippy.  He was an outdoor cat and eventually went to live with my Nannie.  We had to put him to sleep back on Christmas Day in 1995 at the age of 19. So, I always said I wanted to have another cat when I moved into my own home.

Meet Prissy.

Prissy's first Christmas with us.

Honey gave her to me for Christmas in 2000 - about a month after I moved into my first house.  She came from a friend he was visiting over on the Eastern Shore.  He thought we should call her Twinkie.Um, she's black and white.  She's not a twinkie.  So, I told him her name would officially be Twinkle Priscilla. Prissy really has become more of a Daddy's girl lately.  She gets in his lap as soon as he sits down, even if he has something (like a wireless keyboard) in his lap. She "talks" to him and hugs him.  She licks his ear.  She wakes him up in the morning by walking on him and nudging him. Prissy loves drinking water out of the bathroom sink and flies down the hall whenever she thinks Honey is headed that way. She even paws at the door and cries sometimes when he's working in the garage.  She's spoiled!

In 2002, we decided that Prissy needed a friend to play with and keep her company.  My dear friend and former colleague, Lynette, lives on a farm and her barn cat had kittens. I went to see her and she let me pick one out - it's a boy!  I had always said that if I was ever to get another cat, he'd be lucky to have a good home.

Meet Lucky.

Lucky Noodle Brugeman Ritter Sutphin (the name is bigger than I am!)

Lynette and her kids delivered Lucky to us in August 2002.  She was calling him Noodle, so we incorporated that into his full name. Poor Prissy didn't know what to think about this little tiny kitten that just wanted to run and play with her.  She didn't want any part of it.

Lucky was the wild child who enjoyed climbing our Christmas tree for the first few years.  We could be sitting right there looking at him and he would just jump right in.  It's funny now looking back on it, but it just about drove me crazy back then.

Lucky is more of a "Mama's Boy." He likes to get in my lap and put his face up to mine trying to give me a kiss.  He's a happy cat with a loud "motor".  He's also the escape artist.  He longs for the outdoors and any open door will do.  "Luckily" he doesn't go too far when he does manage to get outside.

Today, Prissy is 10 and Lucky just turned 9 earlier this month.  It's hard to believe.  My babies are all grown up!  Oh to live the life of a cat - sleep (most of the day) on the end of our bed, eat and play.

Prissy - aka "Prissy Girl" or "Priss Tail" with her Daddy.

Prissy is our "fat" cat and she's pretty shy around other people. Lucky's tail is so fluffy it could be a duster and he's always reaching for a hand to pet him even from folks he barely knows.

Lucky - aka "Lucky Boy" or "Loo Loo" curled up in the clothes basket.

Did I mention I'm allergic to cats?

Put Me in Coach. I'm Ready to Play...T-Ball

Having a child really is opening me up to new experiences and costing me big bucks too! I signed Bubba up for T-Ball with SYAA back in January.  They didn't tell me much when I signed up and paid my $60, so I didn't know he'd need a glove, uniform and shoes too - cha-ching!  Thankfully, a friend of mine who has two ball-playing boys a little older than Bubba and who professes to being a "crazy ball mom" had some hand me down cleats and pants for me to try. The glove was a different story - Bubba is a lefty, so finding a right-handed glove just before practice started was a bit tricky. Thank you Target!

Practices were on Wednesdays starting in March.  Bubba's favorite part was the snack he would get when they were done, which is how he came to drink way too many Capri Suns.

Bubba warms up at one of his early practices.

Coach Courtney was so patient with the children. I realized right away that I needed to teach Bubba how to get into a line with other children and how to do jumping jacks. And it is so true what they say about the kids picking flowers and not paying attention out in the field.

Bubba models his uniform.  "I've got your curve ball right here."

The spring season started in April and ended June 11 with a game during the week and one on Saturday. By the time it was all said and done, Bubba played all the positions - we preferred him to play in field to lessen the chance for distractions.  He is so my child.  When he would get upset on the field, he would take his glove off and hang that little head and sometimes even sit down - during the game.

My little switch hitter. Hey Batter, Batter, Batter.  Swing Batter!

I learned something else from this experience.  Everyone wins at T-ball.  They don't keep score, so I couldn't tell you who technically won any of the games.

Registration - $60, Team Pictures - $50, Glove - $18, Uniform - $25.  Watching Bubba learn something new and have fun too, PRICELESS.

Beach Week 2011...The New Cottage

So as I mentioned in my last post, we had to find a new cottage for our annual OBX trip this year.  Mom found it through a friend, who I think found it on Craig's List.  Anyway, we were told it had a ground floor apartment and that a very quiet young man lived there.  Ok, that would be different, weird, but we decided the place looked decent.  It was only 4 blocks north of where we were used to staying, had the amenities we were used to and did not cost too much more than what we paid for the Beach Shack.  Shortly before we left to go down, the owner informed us that the downstairs tenant had moved out and that she (the owner) would be coming down for a few days.  Turns out she's the paranoid owner type coming to check up on us. At least that's how we felt.

So my first impression of this new place? Try stale cigarette smoke! Ugh. For someone who has been treated for bronchitis 9 times in 2 years, this was not a good beginning. The can of Fabreze that we had to buy helped, but we had to keep spraying all week.  Later on when Mom mentioned this to the owner, she said she doesn't allow renters to smoke in her cottage.  Well obviously somebody broke the rules. In addition to the cigarette spoke we also had smoky evenings due to the wildfire burning further south.

There were plenty of other rules too.  Was this a prison or a beach cottage for goodness sakes? The place was plastered in sticky notes with all the does and don'ts.  The first one I encountered was taped to the top of the toilet tank - "Septic - toilet paper only." Okay, that's a pretty reasonable request. Another one instructed us not to bring brown paper bags from the stores into the house because they bring roaches.  North Carolina's larger retailers (Wal-Mart, Kmart and Food Lion, etc.) have to use paper instead of plastic bags.

There was another sticky note that instructed us to leave the blinds closed during the day to keep the rooms cool and energy costs down, so I was cringing when my husband decided to open all the blinds and the windows one day.

Soon enough we found ourselves wondering about different things around the house and thought surely there's a sticky note for that!  So at least we eventually found some humor in it.

The highlights of the trip included taking Bubba to see Kung Foo Panda 2 - it was rather good and kept his attention. We also took him to play putt-putt for the first time at Jurassic Put - Bubba liked the Dinosaurs.  But then the next day he was begging to play at the place with the pirate ship.  I skipped this trip, and it was a cooler place with a train that Bubba and Honey got to ride to their course.

All in all we had GREAT weather - no rain until Sunday when we were packing to leave.  Unfortunately, when I got home I realized that we had brought that nasty smoke smell home in all our clothes - including the brand new ones I had purchased down there and my pillow!  This was not, as the sign on the dining room wall stated, "Best Little Vacation House in the Outer Banks" by any means, and we will probably be looking for a new place next year!

A Family Tradition Comes to an End

My family and I recently returned from our annual beach week vacation.  Before I can tell you about this year's trip, I have to give you the background. For the last 14 or so years, my Mom and I and eventually my husband and son have been going to the Outer Banks the week of Memorial Day.  We've stayed in the same cottage every year - the Beach Shack - and we've come to think of it as our home away from home.  The Beach Shack was nicer than my first house! 

The Beach Shack - our perfect little home away from home.

It started out back in the mid 1990's with a group of ladies - my Mom's friends from church and me (I was the youngest of the group!) We'd go to the beach, walk to Kmart, go out to eat, sit on the porch, shop, talk and laugh, and there was nothing like gathering around the dining room table for a good game of Liverpool Rummy and Dominoes.  Over the years we'd have as many as 7 or 8 people there at any given time, and the ages ranged from 20's to 70's.  Those were some great times.  In December of 2003, my Mom's best friend Jean passed away, so going to the beach after that was different, and every time we'd walk to Kmart, we'd think of Jean because it was one of her favorite things to do at the beach. Eventually, Joyce, the lady who rented the cottage for the group decided she didn't want to do it anymore, so Mom started getting it for us to go and Honey would come down on the weekends when he was able to get off of work.  Our son Bubba's first trip to the Beach Shack was in 2006 when he was 7 months old.  He loved the cottage, although the beach and the ocean took some getting used to.

Bubba's first trip to the beach - 2006

We knew this family tradition would come to an end after 2011 because Bubba would be starting Kindergarten, so we'd have to pick a different week to come down to the beach in 2012.  But we didn't know that 2010 was to be our last year at the Beach Shack.  Looking back, I am really bummed that my last week spent at the Beach Shack I was sick with what turned into pneumonia and Bubba was getting over Strep Throat. In December 2010 we discovered that the Beach Shack was up for sale. It broke my Mom's heart seeing that for sale sign in the yard.  She was so upset she even started to wonder if we could afford to buy it - at $285,000 fully furnished, it was a steal.  The owner said we could sign a lease for "our week" and the new owner would have to honor it, but as it turned out the new owners from Maryland wanted to live in OBX year-round, so we had to find another cottage at the last minute to keep our Memorial week vacation plans.

Our New Beginning for 2011...how will it compare to the Beach Shack???

For the Love of a Firebird

My "new" car back when I first got it in 1998.

I own a 1995 Pontiac Firebird.  I bought it in 1998.  It was the first car I purchased myself.  It was my dream car (at the time.) I thought I had such an awesome car that I even got a personalized plate: I8AVET. I didn't care that it really couldn't beat a Corvette in a race. I LOVED that car. I LOVE that car. Honey hates it.  He told me so the other day as he was trying to jump the dead battery.  You see, it was time for a state inspection, and the car hasn't been driven much since our son was born, so we go through this routine around this time every year. I have a soft spot in my heart for this car.  It has been with me through dating and marriage, buying two houses, having a baby and 3 different jobs.  And Honey wants me to sell it! The funniest thing about this is that out of all three vehicles that we own, the Firebird is the oldest and has the least amount of miles on it (117,450).  The coolest part is that it PASSED inspection only needing 2 light bulbs replaced.  While it was at the shop, I figured I'd mention the slow turn signals and the familiar whine of a dying alternator that I have come to recognize.  Sure enough, it needed to be replaced.  I also got the AC recharged just in time for this blast of 90 degree weather we're having this week. The firebird is back at home now waiting for more TLC.

Living Life On Call

Honey works for the local cable company and is on call every other week.  This means that making any kind of plans is always a challenge because one phone call can change everything.  Frank was NOT on call this week, so on Saturday, "the plan" was to participate in our community's yard sale, get hair cuts and go to Wesley's T-ball game (more on that coming soon).  But when Honey's co-worker, who was supposed to be on call, did not answer his phone when a problem came up, Honey had to step in and handle it, which ended up taking over half of the day! He didn't get to do any of the things that were planned. It's a sad thing when a Dad doesn't get to go see his son play ball on a Saturday. Saturday evening another problem arose, and again, the person who was supposed to be on call did not answer.  When he still didn't answer on Sunday, Honey ended up having to take a trip to the Eastern Shore and miss our family lunch to resolve the issue.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my Honey's dedication to his job, but I know that a lot of times his efforts are taken for granted and not appreciated by his colleagues. So, this week, Honey WILL be on call, and I'll be starting to prepare for our annual beach week vacation, so I'm sure he'll get a call...

A Mini Sunday Sermon

"Always aspire to inspire before you expire."

(on the sign at Bethlehem Christian Church - Holland Road, Suffolk)

Thankful on a Thursday

Okay, here goes...this is my first ever post in the blog world.  I recently rediscovered an old "journal" I wrote for a college journalism class, and my professor commented that I was "a good diarist.  Keep observing - watch the world. It's your material."  Thanks Dr. R!

So, this one's for Rachel (The Dirt Diva) and Jamie (Walkin' in High Cotton), two of my friends at work who blog and keep asking me when I'm going to start! I've got some pretty big shoes to fill...

Today I've been trying not to "sweat the small stuff" realizing that there are plenty of other people in the world who are worse off then me.  So, let's start with what I'm thankful for (realizing that I don't say it anywhere near enough): my wonderful, laid-back, patient husband - we'll call him "Honey"; my son, who is the most loving and smart little boy ever - we'll call him "Bubba"; my Mom, who is the best Mom in the whole world; my family, my friends, my job, my home and much, much more. Oh, and I'm thankful to have this outlet - this modern day diary.

So, you ask...what exactly is the small stuff that's bugging me today? I had to take a sick day today because my son has some sort of stomach bug, which also means he misses his T-ball game today.  I won't get into the gross details of this now 2-week ordeal, but if someone can tell me the secret to getting a 5-year-old to eat more starch, I'm all ears. I have tons of work waiting for me at the office (yes, I'm one of those people who actually loves my job...most of the time!). My lens fell out of my glasses, and I can't find the little screwdriver kit to fix it; my cell phone is dead, and I can't find my charger (Honey usually "borrows" it.) The pharmacy mixed up my blood pressure medicine, and now I have to wait for my doctor's office to authorize more refills, which means another trip to pick it up! My house is a wreck, and usually all I do is tell Honey, I need a maid or a magic wand.  I usually do let these little things get the best of me, and Honey just looks at me like I have two heads!

At this point Honey would say "no more complaining for the rest of the day" and the house isn't that bad, but "go pick a spot and start cleaning!" Thanks Honey...