Saturday

Mattison had her friend, Lucy, over to spend the night Saturday. They played and played! When they decided to take the car for a drive, they took turns in the driver seat.

Lucy's turn!

I'm not sure whose great idea this was! I was near, though, in case there was a mishap.

Now, it's Mattison's turn. I think she was pretending they were in a parade or something.

They played so sweetly together. After riding all the bikes/cars, they took a bubble bath together, watched one last episode of Dora the Explorer, and we read some books. They were asleep by 9pm. THAT won't always be the case! I remember the goal being to NOT fall asleep. haha

Mattison LOVES to watch the train go by at the mall, so yesterday when we were there, I let her ride it. She did so good and sat and waved as it made the loops around the mall.

Next was riding the old timy car. That one wasn't quite as exciting, but she still enjoyed it. :)

Friday, 10/7/11

Friday, my good friend, Ulli, and I headed to Midway, GA to the factory greeting card store. It only opens every now and then, and usually it's on a Friday when we are working. We must have circled the store 4xs and spent around TWO HOURS shopping! :D Matti did fabulous. Of course, I bought a few "extras" that made their way into the basket. Below is a pic of some little notebooks that she just had to have.

After my buggy started getting fuller and fuller, people would walk near and look puzzled when they would hear singing/talking coming from my pile of "goodies". She was almost hidden and was hard to see after a little while. She was content inspecting all the cards and fun things, though.

This vest made me think of Danielle - the ultimate teacher holiday vest. I laughed out loud and emailed this picture to her. If money was not an option, I would have bought it to send to her.

I signed up to teach the 3-5 year olds at church since Matti goes each Sunday and they've been asking for volunteers. Being an elementary school teacher, I thought that it wouldn't really be THAT big of a deal. I much prefer my 5th graders, but I figured I could handle it for the 30-ish minutes that it lasts. Let me tell you, I WAS WRONG. There were around 13 kids, which most of them were well behaved. There were 2-3 boys that had must have gotten together and concocted a plan of their own - a plan to give me a huge headache in a short 30 minute span. As you can see in the picture below, this precious little one decided he was NOT going to color, nor was he going to sit on his seat. During snack time, he also ate the little boy's snacks beside him. When I asked him to give the snacks back (because I thought they were in his hand), he opened his mouth and spit them out on to the boy's napkin! My eyes must have been the size of saucers! Another little boy was annoying the others at his table so much that they told him he was being bad. He proceeded to cry at the top of his lungs, saying, "I am NOT being bad! I am good!" over and over again. This was inbetween "shooting" the other boys with his "laser" finger. I must have checked the clock eight different times to see how much longer I had to endure. I could continue to describe the other 27 minutes, but it's bringing back my headache; so I'll stop here. Unfortunately, I do not see myself volunteering for this age group in the near future...or ever again. I'll stick with my angelic upper-elementary kids. ;)

So, obviously Mattison sometimes makes her way out of bed after I've tucked her in for the night. A few times I have even caught her with the big light on, sitting up in bed like it's nobodies business. Now I make it a point to check on her before I go to bed. These are some pics from here recently. That girl loves her books!

This night she had filled the bed with books. I guess she was sitting on the side of the bed when she finally fell asleep. I hate to think of how late that was.... :s The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, though because I remember giving Mom and Dad fits about not wanting to go to bed. We all remember me saying, "When I grow up, I am NEVER going to sleep!" I'm eating those words now of course.

Oktober Fest in Savannah

Mattison and I decided to head to Savannah for Oktober Fest on River Street this Saturday. There were bands playing, people everywhere, and arts and crafts booths set up. The weather could not have been prettier, and we had a great time strolling around. Matti loved the river and the boats driving by. There happened to be a "Pirate Ship" parked that you could tour. Matti loved it!

After we toured the ship, Matti played in a bouncy house for a while. Then we went near a band and listed to them for a while. She kept wanting to get closer, and eventually she walked to the side of the stage and was looking at them right behind the big speaker. She had fun dancing (or running around in circles) to the oldies they were playing. We had a good time, and it only could have been better if Matt had been able to join us. We are looking forward to having him home again so that we can do these kinds of things as a family again.

Hooah!

Well, Matt has thankfully made it through the first phase of Ranger School. Mattison and I were able to go visit home for his 8 hour break between phases. We drove the 4 hours to Fort Benning, spent the day with him, and then drive the 4 hours back to make it home right after midnight. It was so worth it! He looked good, although very tired. We met him right after noon and headed to Lonestar for a steak lunch. Then we went on post to start washing his clothes at a laundry mat. The water in the washing machines were so dirty! Then we ran to Ranger Joes, Commandos, and to the PX to restock his packing list. We had a few other errands to run as well and ate dinner at Little Ceasars. Matti was on cloud nine all day. She was bouncing off the wall and kept trying to wrestle with him. It was heart-warming. We've missed him so much, and it was one of the longest stretches of time that we've ever gone having no contact at all.

We had to drop him back off for formation at 7:45p.m. We didn't want to stop hugging him! We won't be able to visit him between the 2nd and 3rd phases, so that was it until graduation. Here's to hoping that these next 6 weeks or so FLY BY! We are proud of you and love you so much, Matt! <3

Flashback

I was going through pictures on my Blackberry, and these are some older ones of Mattison that made me smile. Where has the time gone?!

Unfortunately, our area has had several fires in the past few months. Now there is one burning in the woods behind Taylors Creek Elementary, the school where I teach. It has been burning for over a week now, and it is very smokey, even inside the building. We weren't able to go outside for recess because of it all last week. This is a picture from Friday evening. There were two fire trucks on our playground spraying the woods, along with a bulldozer that was cutting more fire lanes in the woods. When I drove by, several vehicles had pulled onto the front lawn, watching everything happen.

This is a picture from right outside my neighborhood. That dark smoke cloud is coming from right behind TCE. Scary! I heard that it is supposed to rain in the next few days. It's safe to say that we could definitely use it!

While I water the flowers in the evenings, Mattison has fun playing with her "vehicles." She rides them in front of the house on the side walk, around the cars, and in circles inside the garage. Then she'll park them in a row somewhere and then move them all again. It definitely entertains her for period of time.

Matt had a uniform inspection not too long ago while getting ready for Ranger school. He's looking pretty sharp, if I do say so myself.

Mom came across this picture and sent it to me recently. I think it's just the sweetest thing. Matti loves her Papa!

This time last year....

I was looking through some pictures taken during Matt's R and R last summer. I came upon this video of Mattison, and it made me laugh. She's pushing her stroller around the mall in Savannah. It's hard for her little-self to guide. :) Enjoy!

After Matt had to go back to GA to leave for ALC (school at Ft. Benning), Matti and I took the opportunity to go visit friends in Dallas, Tx. We stayed with Kiley for a few days, and it was like living together all over again.... so much fun! When we got there, Kiley gave Matti her birthday present, a shower wrap and a sticker mosaic set. She LOVED both, insisting on sleeping in the wrap and putting the stickers EvErYwHeRe.

That evening we went to visit Candice and John Chris Allison and their two precious sons, Ryland and Reed. Candice and I were best buds in college, and it's been way too long since we'd seen each other. After chatting for a bit at their beautiful home, we went out to eat at Taco Stand, which was a delicous restaurant (despite its name). Matti and Ryland entertained themselves by taking pictures. I believe this is Ryland's handi-work below. ;)

After dinner, we headed back to their house and ended up in the toy room upstairs where the kids had a blast. While we chatted on the couches, they must have played with every single toy in the room. We laughed and laughed watching them interact with each other. It's too bad that we live so far apart becuase they really hit it off!

They were so cute playing with each other.

A book shelf with no books.....

That would be because my child took them all off the shelf, loaded them into a wagon, and put them in the oven. Who is surprised?

Kiley and I went shopping in Grapevine one evening and Matti had a fit when she saw this. She squealed as she road it.