Famous faces

FINALLY!! I met some friends yesterday at a place called Merridees for lunch. This actually was the 3rd place that we had to choose cause the first two choices were closed! Anyway, we sit down and chat for a bit and then I go over to get a drink and I am checking people out as I am walking by. I look to my left and see that someone looks very much like Reba McEntire. I take a second look.....WOW! THAT IS REBA McENTIRE!!! COOLNESS! ok, so I am star struck and I never thought I would be. But the cool thing about living in Franklin,TN is that famous people are like everyone else and no one bothers them. And I was not about to be the one to bother them so I left it alone.

Then I am walking back to my table with my drink and Reba is talking to Naomi Judd at the table NEXT TO MINE! Holy smokes!! They talk for a little while and then Reba goes back to her table and then brings a friend over to meet Naomi. They talk for a bit longer and then go and sit back down across the room. Naomi sits back down at her table and proceeds to eat her lunch with her friend.

Funny, but one of my friends that I am eating with is named Naomi too. I am sitting next to two Naomi's!!!! Weird...... Naomi Judd catches the eye of my friend Naomi and my friend says, " I am a Naomi too! I have loved you always!" Then Naomi Judd smiles and tells her that usually the naomi's that she meets are old ladies, so he was happy to see that she was young. She was very sweet. Then as we were leaving Naomi Judd told my friend Naomi that she loved her coat and asked her if it were Vintage....

On the road again..

We got back in the car at 9am Sunday and started trekking back to TN. Really Short trip. On the way through North Carolina we took a detour off the interstate and found a place to stop for lunch. We did not know that we would be over looking this gorgeous field of cotton! Breathtaking! Then the kids -including Bach- had fun running up and down huge piles of gravel! They all got some energy out and were able to rest easy for the Long drive ahead. Glad to be back in TN.

Christiana

This is Lindsey's friend christiana. She moved from our neighborhood this summer and we were so sad that she did. Lindsey got to spend the night with her Saturday while we were at the football game. When Christiana lived in TN she was always at our house. Those girls were inseperatable!! They loved the outdoors and would stay out for hours. Both are animal lovers and she would come to Lindseys horseback lessons lots of times. We miss you Christiana!!!!!

Fall Break happenings

Talk about a fast trip.... We arrived on Thursday and hit the ground running or so it seemed. Lindsey got to stay with a friend in Charlotte, NC and Ian went over to a friends house on Saturday as well.

Tom and I went to the LSU/SC game. We had excellent seats! We were near the SC band and the student section. There was a LSU fan sitting in the student section and the guy was harrassed the whole game! He had to be looking for trouble if he was sitting there..

Oh, it was cold at the game too....brrrrrr

This guy wearing the CLEMSON garb is the date of a family friend. Janice, Toms mom, was trying to get him to put the sweat shirt on UNDER this game cock ware. His son gave him that sweat shirt so he brought it along...he was a clemson fan at a carolina game..grrrrrrrr.

Fall Break

We are on the road to S.C. later today. We are heading down to see family and to go to see South Carolina play LSU (HA HA-Yeah, right!) Anyway, we go half way today, stopping off in Dandrige, TN and then head on tomorrow morning. I hope that the leaves will be gorgeous on the drive down. Bach is freaking out cause this morning he saw suitcases and those make the anxiety level for him go up. When he sees them, he knows that we are going somewhere..and he is hoping that he is coming with us!

Presentations

They were great!! Both kids did a fantastic job! I was a proud momma and Tom was a proud daddy. The each spoke loudly and confidently! All of the kids did such a remarkable job for this being the first project of the year. one down...3 more to go!!

Field Trip to Corn maze

It was fun. It claimed to be 3 miles but we hardly walked that amount. The cool thing was that it was in the shape of our solar system and the kids walked through the maze and would come upon planets and read information about them. It also rained several times throughout the trip. But fun none the less.

Procrastination 2

Wanted to give you an update. Ian got up today in a great mood. After coming downstairs and eating breakfast he began to sit down and finish memorizing his presentation. The time limit is to be between 1-2 minutes. His was perfectly at 1 minute! He remembered his scripture verse and everything! I think that he will do great.

Maybe he is a kid who likes to work under pressure??? Not sure, but HIS PARENTS CANNOT HANDLE IT!!!!

Procrastination

That is such a horrible word. It brings frustration and anger to me when I hear it or think about it. I feel rushed, agitated and my heart races. Yesterday and today have been extreme days for our son Ian. He and Lindsey have presentations that are due tomorrow. On these days, they will both need to dress up (dress for her, tie for him),and they will stand up in front of their classes-5th and 6th grade AND THEIR PARENTS, present memorized information along with a visual about their subject. We have known about this for 3 weeks now. Each child is vastly different when preparing for their project..

Lindsey comes home and on the SAME DAY that she gets the paper about the project she wants to start on it...I'M NOT KIDDING! She is a work horse! She chose the Lakota Indian tribe. She has done an excellent job on the report. She has memorized it and the visual is superb! It is a cool diorama of an Indian scene complete with Indians, tee pees and water! She is very proud and she was done with her project 2 weeks ago...again, I'm not kidding...

Ian. We started this past weekend. Getting research was like pulling teeth. He fussed and fought the whole way. Yesterday he began writing the report but refused to do as I suggested and write in pencil so that he could make correction as he went. So he got frustrated when we told him that words were misspelled and that he had to start over. He went to bed angry. Today after school he began to type his report (he claims that he was told today that it needed to be typed), and Tom helped with him with the visual portion. After dinner he was freaking out cause he could not memorize his presentation and became frustrated thinking about how bad his grade was going to be cause he would be looking at his note cards. Again, he went to bed angry and nervous thinking about what lies ahead for him tomorrow..

Ian is having a hard time learning about procrastination. Say a prayer for us and Ian please. Being a kid and being a parent is not easy..

Fall

I love that it is getting cooler outside. Today's high was only 72! The leaves on the trees are turning colors and are beginning to fall. One of the fun reasons that I love this time of year is that one of our neighbors makes me smile....LOTS!! This person, who cares deeply for his yard, vacuums up each leaf that falls. Today the soul was out twice and I happened to catch him both times while driving past his house! Perhaps a little OCD? I do not know, but I am scared when I think about how tidy he must keep his house. This is the same neighbor who has every light on in his house at night time..so he is GREEN in the fact that he is keeping his GREEN lawn nice, but he is not so green in keeping his electricity down in order to help our planet. Perhaps that might have been a bit harsh, but I find my neighbor to be very strange and hilarious at the same time. :-)

Speaking of green and the environment, our family decided that we are going to cut back on paper napkins and use cloth napkins instead during meals to help Mother Earth. After Tom and I discussed this and I went to take inventory of the cloth napkins I had stashed away, I was shocked to find that have over 6 sets of napkins! So now, I place the dirty napkins on the back stairs that lead up to the bonus room-where our washer is. I am always washing whites(so it seems), so there is no "extra" washing that has to take place for the napkins. Also I have read that washing clothes in cold is better for the environment. So, I am washing clothes in cold cause he helps not having to use the hot water heater...just small, tiny ways to help the earth..

On that note...Why is it called HOT WATER HEATER??? Is the water not already hot and if so...why does it need to be heated?? Food for thought!