Sunday Night Live - Update

It's been 2 months since my last post, and I'm not sure anybody is still visiting the GRITS corner of the blog world. My Stat Counter tells me the blog averages 8 hits a day. Thanks, Mom.


I can't say my email or facebook page has been overflowing with messages demanding my return, but here I am.


If you have been a regular reader, you KNOW there has certainly been plenty to blog about. I've just taken the easy road out and not written about it.


Soooooo, what have we been doing the last two months?! A little bit of everything, that's what. You know, no update here would be complete without photos.


Swimming. We've had two swim meets and I am PROUD to report that both LegoMan and the Princess represented team GRITS well (or is it good?)





Football. Saturdays in the South are not made for blogging, they are made for college football. DUH! I had the pleasure of taking Papa to watch Alabama pound Florida. ROLL TIDE!





Homecoming. I must admit I have done the blog world a complete disservice by not posting pictures of my kid's dressed up for Homecoming Week. Such a shame. Here are few of my favorites:

Halloween. I must say, this year's costumes will go in the record books. At least LegoMan's will. It was PERFECT. And the Princess' was perfectly PUNK.






So, what's news in your world?!

Job 1:21

"....The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away....."





After the loss of our 14 year old Lab, Bailey, in February, God gave us a very special gift in March:







And on Sunday, He took part of it away:





As the result of a tragic accident in our backyard, Allie has gone on to the Rainbow Bridge.


Her time with us was WAY too brief.



Our house and hearts are now filled with grief.



She made the most of her short dog life in so many ways.



She lived her life to the fullest each and every day.




Her sister, Sophie, adored her; while the squirrels loathed her.




She was loved deeply and she gave MUCH love.




We will dearly miss those dark brown eyes and her Labrador "smile".




Our hearts are so heavy and our eyes filled with tears.




Time heals all wounds, or so they say......I don't know why God gave and then took away?!

Labrador Diaries -- Volume 5

This post is not for the weak.

There will be no pictures. You are welcome.

Because the horrid images are seared into my brain, as well as my kid's.

We last left our villains dog wonders on the hunt for fresh meat. Squirrel meat.

The hunt was over last weekend when they captured victim #1, an unsuspecting young squirrel who was obviously not paying attention while coming down the tree.

With the details spared........suffice it to say we had our first and hopefully last squirrel funeral in the GRITS backyard.

After the private ceremony, the Princess declared, "I think all those other squirrels up in that tree probably learned a very important lesson today!"


Not so much......fast forward to this morning as we rushed around getting ready for church.

I gazed out the kitchen window only to find Sophie with "something" in the yard. As I stepped out on the patio, I realized she had victim #2 between her jaws.

Again, I will spare you the details, but when I hollered for LegoMan to come help me.....I almost had to resuscitate him! He will probably never come when I call him again. Ever.


I suspect the Princess was wrong......there were NO lessons learned from the squirrel viewing deck in that tree. And I'm sure today's burial will probably not be the last. There will be plenty more squirrels unknowingly making that final trip down the tree trunk. For it is natures way.


WARNING TO ALL SQUIRRELS, these deceivingly, sweet, smiling faces may be the last ones you see:

School Daze

As you may know, we've been back in school for about a month.

What a L-O-N-G month it's been!!


We weren't even in school two weeks before I got the dreaded "Your son's had an accident and I think he might need stitches" phone call. And he did, four of them. Thankfully, the wound was right in his eyebrow line and the scar is barely visible.





Our afternoons are now filled with homework and swim practice. And did I mention the homework?!

I must say this has been a turning point in our household for the dreaded post-school work. Don't get me wrong....I am NOT complaining much. We have just had to get used to hitting the books a little bit harder now.

And staying awake during studying is important, too:






At what age do kids realize if they would just sit down and do their work, without dilly-dallying, they would be done sooner?? *shrug*

We are all hanging in there, so far.


The Princess is hoping she can just get by on her good looks and fashion sense alone:



I'd give her an "A"......wouldn't you?!

Sent with love

We've decided the magic number for owning a cell phone in our house is 13.

*insert gasping sound from an 11 and 9 year old*

I realize that does not make us the coolest parents on the block but, ummmmm, we don't care.


However, like any normal child over the age of 5, both of my kids know how to send and retrieve text messages on our phones.


LegoMan recently acquired the hubby's retired iPhone, minus the SIM card, which renders it as an iPod Touch. FYI, there is an app to send free text messages via Wi-Fi connections.


I had the Princess with me on a recent visit to the Hair Whisperer. While getting my hair did, I heard my phone beep for an incoming text message. The Princess quickly volunteered to field my message. She informed me it was LegoMan and said she would send him a message back. I heard her send a couple of messages and that was it.


What do two siblings who love each other so much text to one another.....see for yourself.









I'm so proud.

Labrador Diaries -- Volume 4

The last time we made an appearance in Blogville, we were recovering from our surgery that made us more neutral, non-puppy bearing beasts animals.

We are happy to announce we've made a full recovery and are at the top of our puppy game!



The smaller humans have completely welcomed us into their fun-size pack:






Before it got to be as hot as blue blazes we spent some time working on our tans:




However, one our favorite summer memories will be playing in the little green pond:







The Alpha Dog has put us to work.....something about earning our keep. We help fold clothes for food:






Speaking of food, we've had a brief taste of fresh meat.....so brief, it got away from both of our mouths!

Meet THE enemy:


Oh, we know he or she looks cute, but that doesn't stop us from trying to get one more taste of this little delicacy.





The humans have tried dragging us inside during the HOT summer, but once we see our little "friend" scurry down that tree, we absolutely MUST go back outside! We MUST!




Recently our people have been disappearing all day again. That's ok because we love playing in our big yard. We have a lot of shade and we are still working on that hole to China, wherever that is.




The other day we even had a special guest pop in on us:

Meet our cute little neighbor "Bear". We guess he wanted to say hi, but when we ran over to greet him, he disappeared back into his yard.

He probably thinks the grass is greener in our yard!

We think so!


Until next time.......

Allie:

Sophie:

Back to School Blues

School Year 2010-11 is underway! We got back into the swing of all things school this past Wednesday. I officially have a 6th and 4th grader in my home.

What?!

How??

Where does the time go?

It seems like yesterday each were graduating from Kindergarten.

And now look where we are:






LegoMan has graduated from hanging out with the elementary kids in the cafeteria before school, to hanging with his buddies in the gym:




And the Princess has her books and new bangs ready for a new school year:





Happy New School Year, y'all!

Big Bang Theory

So you all remember learning about the Big Bang Theory in high school, right?

Well, the Princess and I had a discussion about a different "Bang Theory" and it went a little something like this:


Me: "Princess, I've got you an appointment to get your hair cut next week."

P: "I think I want to get my hair cut short again for school."

Me: "Ok, but you need to decide if you really want it short again because I thought you said you were growing it out."

P: "Well, I think I want it short again" [LONG pause] "Mom, how do you get bangs? I mean, when I had them when I was little did you, like, get them for me or where did I get them?"

Me: [mouth open, blank stare] "Princess, the lady that cuts your hair makes them from your hair."

P: "Oh!" [takes large wad of hair from the front of her head and places it over her face] "So, like, she would cut all of this really short?"

Me: "Not exactly THAT much of your hair. Just a little bit from the front."

P: [LONG pause] "Wait, so what do you do if you don't want your bangs anymore?"

Me: [insert a little laughing] "Ummm, you have to grown them back out again. Like we did when you were little."

P: "Oh!"




For those of you who knew me back in the day.....I am no expert on Big Bangs; however, I certainly cornered the market on BAD bangs:





Will the Princess stay with a cleaned up version of this:

Or go back to this:




Stay tuned........




**UPDATE*** May I present the Princess and her new do (complete with a few wispy bangs):

Summer Rewind

*knock* *knock* *knock* Anybody still here??

We are on the final 3 week countdown until school starts......well, the hubby and I might be the only one counting down.

Our summer has been quite busy around here, it's been filled with GOOD, BAD, and UGLY! (warning: LOTS of photos)


GOOD:

The kids have spent most of the summer in the pool on a summer swim team. They swam 4 days a week and competed in a few meets. Both won several ribbons in their events and Lego-Man made the summer All Star swim team! I am a proud swim mom!!






We also took some time out for visiting family. It's always a good time when the littlest cousins get together for a week. It is non-stop F-U-N.






The local Princess turned the big 9. It's her last year of single digits.....*gasp*



BAD

The biggest bad news of the summer involved this sweet face:




And these cute boys:

As some of you may remember, last year's birthday present was tickets to see the Jonas Brothers. Earlier in the summer we found out her favorite boy band was going to be touring again this fall. The Princess begged for two more tickets for he birthday. I bought them and made plans for a fabulous weekend in Nashville with one of my favorite peeps and her daughter.

On the Princess' very birthday, I received an email that informed me of the JoBros canceling 20 venues, including Nashville (so they could add tour dates in South America????). Insert Sad Trombone Needless to say, I was waiting on a call from Team Jonas to inform my sweet girl of their poor decision making skills. We are still waiting on that phone call.

After receiving the bad news, the Princess settled on a birthday bike....complete with a pouch for her Mp3 player to blare on a speaker. Because the 9 year old needs ONE more distraction while riding her bike.



On another bad note, Lego-Man's summer hairdo strongly resembles Justin Bieber's. Oh baby, puhhleeze.

(FYI, the hairdo situation has since been rectified by the nice lady at Sports Clips.)

UGLY

My little sister and I had an encounter with aliens the Mac Photo Booth:

(Who knew my sister was Janice the Muppet)

We've had a really great summer here at the GRITS house. How about you??