I Fell Off The Face Of The Earth

I'm sure you're wondering if I've fallen off the face of the Earth.  The answer is, yes...yes I have.  I have been trapped in a tornadic cyclone for 3 weeks.  I can't tell you the last time I've gone 3 weeks without blogging.  I think my insides are about to burst!
So while I have a minute since hubby is in Oxford watching football and tiny boy is napping.... I will vomit all over you the hodge podge of things that we have been doing over the past, what seems like, millennia.  There is no order to these photos, just random what's been going on.  Some of these things I may have already talked about...but just humor me and listen again.

I went all Brittany Spears on my dogs and shaved them.  I'd had enough of their hair and tumbleweeds rolling throughout my house.  I am not too sure why I've waited 9 years to do this?

Foxy Mama - notice her sweet bow on her head.
She felt pretty even though she's all street tough.

Katie Lou stays shaved, but her ears became a big glob of knotted yarn.
So they got shaved.

This is my niece Hannah's back to school notebook.
How sweet that she put pics of Hilly poo on the front!

Jane Claire and the girls came to town to visit.  I don't know why I only have this picture.  We hung out all weekend - shame on me for not capturing all the fun stuff we did!  All the cousins came over Sunday, August 28th and played on the big blowup water slide.  Fun was had by all.  Anyway, you can sort of see that Addie is pushing Hill in his car.

This is my neighbors pimp station wagon.

The other day I stopped to ask them if they wanted to sell it because it just looks like something I need.  They were willing to sell it, but it was more than I wanted to pay for a silly toy.  Seriously, how freaking awesome is this wagon?  Paneling, what!  White walls, shut your mouth!  It has a huge steering wheel, A/C, great interior and the seat in the way back that flips backwards so you can stare at the car behind you on long road trips and pick your nose.  Growing up my best friends family had a maroon one like this.  We use to play hide and go seek in that thing while our crayons melted in the dash.  Hill needs childhood memories like that.  We could load up the kiddo and dogs and just do whatever.  We'd be the Griswold's.  I know Hill would love it if I dropped him off at school in this relic.

Football season has started.  I found my favorite Grove picture in all the history of Grove pictures.  It was taken 2 years ago at the Auburn game.

Colonel Reb & Jesus Christ

I haven't had a weekend with my husband since well, I can't remember.  If it's not fishing, it's football.  If it's not football it's hunting.  Then the vicious cycle repeats every year.  I guess it could be a lot worse.  The fact that he has hobbies is a good thing.  Maybe I'll actually get to go to a few games this year.  I always seem to have something going on too though.

Like I said, this is a hodge podge of pictures...I found this one that is from when we went to Nashville a few weeks ago.  Had to toss this one in on the post because my boys are sweet.

As most of you know, Chip is the cook in our house.  When we have family cooking night he gives me my chore and then usually stands over me to tell me how it probably needs to be done the way I'm not doing it.  So I take pictures instead.

Hill is in charge of putting on the pepperoni on home made pizza night.
I did scatter the cheese on it.  See, I can cook.

Then we planted sunflower seeds...

Katie Lou being nosey while Hill looks on.

Hill gets to put the seeds in.

We are now to the point where attending church with our 19 month old son is a chore.  Weekend before last he was doing great until he pulled out the crayons and was 2.5 milliseconds from coloring in the Hymnal. So, I loaded him up and we went across the street to play on the playground until church let out.

Hill's obsession with shoes has not gone away.  Still the same routine - wake up, change diaper, put on shoes.  Shoes is the first word out of his mouth when he wakes up.  We nap in shoes because I'm not willing to fight that battle.  It's no easy task explaining to my son that it's not a good idea to sleep in your rain boots...or tennis shoes...or sandals.  So he dubbed his cowboy boots his night night shoes.  I HAD to get the boy some house shoes.  Wal-Mart only offers kid sized slippers of the "fun" character fashion.  We settled for 'Cars.'  He calls them his "Car Shoes" and never wears them for more than 27 seconds.  Sigh...

Aren't they cheesy tacky cute?

I love his 3 inch long legs.
They make me smile.

Week before last Hill had strep.  The doctor says that if he gets it one more time this calendar year he will have to have his tonsils removed.  Pray for no more strep, please.  So not only did Hill have strep it was the week from doo doo when the proverbial tornadic cyclone went into full effect.  Chip was in Texas fishing with my dad and then had a conference to go to.  He gets sick.  Stuck in not his house and not his bed sick.  So here I am with sick child and sick husband located 750 miles away.  Someone has to bring home the bacon around these parts so I must work.

Thank Heaven for Chip's step mom or I'm not sure what I'd have done.  Nana stepped up to the plate that Monday when daycare called and she took him to the doctor for me so he could get on antibiotics right away. (side note: we went to the doctor every week in August and part of July with random ailments.  Seriously, it's embarrassing.) He was out of daycare Monday and Tuesday.  Went to school Wednesday and then started throwing up again on Thursday so he was out Friday too.  He had strep like I'd never seen.  It made him nauseated and he would only eat Nacho Cheese Doritos and fruit roll ups.  I think I'd probably throw up too.  Anyway, he overcame it...we think/hope.

He felt so bad he didn't want to eat.
Only sleep.

I was able to get a little substance in the boy.
He's a sweet mess.

Meanwhile, the Wednesday that he did go to school I had to go to Jackson to get a tube put in my ear.  Yes, I'm the 31 year old that has tubes in my ears.  It's weird to tell people that because they usually associate tubes with little kids.  So I usually don't say anything because I get a crooked look as they say "Really?" as if I were a 31 year old that still breast fed or something.  

I was a big girl as I got the tube in my ear.  No anti-anxiety meds because I was alone and the sole caregiver to my son should he fall ill again and need me.  Before Dr. House put my tube in he stuck this sucker thing in my ear - like when you go to the dentist and it sucks your spit - but he stuck it in my ear to get out the fluid (vomit right?)  Well it gets better.  I could feel it sucking my breath away from my throat through my ear!  Then my sinus' were all dried out.  Whoa.  I know - it felt just as weird as it sounds.  Ok so maybe I am a kid.  Whatever, now you are judging me.  See this is why I just don't tell people I have tubes in my ears.

After the procedure which took a nano second EVERYTHING WAS SO LOUD!  Oh wow it was loud.  I told Dr. House that this was going to take some getting use to.  He told me that some people are so use to not being able to hear that they can't take it once they are able to hear all the sounds.  He assured me that if I hadn't adjusted in a couple of weeks he could take it out.  How odd that I'd rather be partially deaf than subjected to this continual rock concert volume 24-7.  My ear did settle and by that night it had popped or something and I adjusted way better.  The tube has made a cozy home in my ear.  THE END....don't you just love that story?  Weirdo.

Moving on ~

When I worked from home I had my office in the side room off our kitchen.  It then became the "dogs room" once I went back to work within society.  For the past forever Chip has had his office in our guest bedroom.  We decided that when guests come it would be nice for them to have their own room and not have to boot Hill out of his room.  I secretly think it was a way for Chip to get me to clean up all the crap I stored in the corner of the dogs room.  So the office renovation began....

Chip's step dad is really handy and thrify.  He said he could build us a desk for mere pennies - - and that he did!  I love it!

Before:  Foster getting one last rest in his old room before construction begins.

During:  Hill and I using power tools.
(Don't look up my shorts!)

During: Ed & Hill finding studs.
Wait, they are the studs.  Sorry I couldn't resist the cheese of saying that.
 Especially Hill with no pants on.

After

I like to call it the Mission Control Room
left to right: Chip's Mac laptop, my Mac desktop, my Dell laptop and Chip's work laptop.

During renovation redo week we also hung a TV outside on the patio.  I have to brag on hubby for a second.  I knew his intentions when he broached the subject on wanting a tv outside - He had football on the brain.  But I've got to give it to him.  He researched and found a brand new 28" LCD flat screen tv and wall bracket for less than $200 at Walmart.com.  Why the heck not?  I refuse to take a picture until the wires are all in place and I have decorated.  Well, I take that back.  I did take a picture and it looks stupid because it's like "Hey, I'm a tv on a wall" and doesn't do the set up justice.  I have to admit that Hill really really enjoys watching Mickey Mouse outside while putting sticks in his wagon.  Ridiculous, I know.  He can also watch cartoons while.....

Playing on the "tractor"

Last weekend was Labor Day weekend.  Our friends Elizabeth "Ed", Mike & Ava Kaiser came to visit us from Nashville.  Ava and Hill are days apart which is neat because Chip and Ed have been BFF forever.  The kids played together like they were BFF.  It was sweet.  I have no less than a million pictures from when they were here so I will share those in another post.

So now do you see why I haven't posted in 3 weeks?  Do you forgive me?  Have you abandon me as I have you?  There is much more to talk about...work being one of them.  I don't really like to talk about work on my blog but once I get settled I'll give you the latest on my bitter sweet transition.

I leave you with this picture.  It describes how I feel lately, tired.  We went over to our neighbors house, the Davis', to watch the Auburn vs. MS State game and Hill played and played and came home to conk out.  I'm sure I will regret his napping at 4:00 pm and it's now 6:30 pm and he's still asleep.  Oh well, it was worth being able to get to blog for a bit.