Day 273/365 - September 30

I was so caught up in the cat drama yesterday that I didn't even mention the fact that Avery has poison ivy. Bad poison ivy. We even ended up at the doctor yesterday because it has taken over her legs.

She started complaining about these bumps that itched Friday night when she was with her NaNa and PaPa. I didn't think a thing about it. Avery has crazy reactions to bites and I figured it would take a day or so and go away.

When she got up yesterday complaining even more, I looked even closer and realized we had a big problem on our hands (didn't know what, just that it was NOT good). So, I did what any respectable Mom would do. I immediately sent her to see her Dad.

He took one look at it and said...poison ivy.

Are you kidding me?!? I'm sure she had to be exposed two weeks ago on the hunting trip since that's when Wes brought the wonderful gift home. Why did it take so long to show up? Thinking back, she complained last week of her legs itching and I gave her some lotion for her dry skin. I'm sure that did wonders for the monster rash that was already taking over. Once again, great mom!

Anywho, the doctor gave Avery a strong dose of steroids along with a cream that should help dry it up. She also instructed a dose of Benadryl every 4 hours. I guess it's a pretty good thing Benadryl doesn't make Avery sleepy, huh?

Obviously, the steroids don't either. That kid was up and down all.night.long. I don't think we slept more than a few hours total last night.

The pharmacy had to order the cream yesterday, so I ran by to pick it up this afternoon. While I was there, I stopped in a store next door and picked up a super cute new Vera Bradley glasses case for Avery. One of those "just because" gifts.

Nothing like a long story for one little 'ole picture, huh?

Day 272/365 - September 29

Ugh, I think I'm ready to pull my hair out!

For the past few weeks, Princess has started peeing on the carpet. She has two spots plus the bathroom rug she "likes."

I've tried those special carpet cleaners, deodorizers, etc. and nothing seems to really work.

Now, I'm on to the "stick their nose in it" method. Don't know that it's working either, but it is very effective at making a cat mad at you.

Here is Princess hiding out from me after I found a spot when we got home this afternoon.

I stuck her nose in it.

She went crazy and even managed to take a chunk out of inner thigh. (side note - Really, what were we thinking leaving her back claws in?)

She retreated to a safe place to hide out from me.

I figured you would rather see the cat hiding than the pee spot(s) on my carpet.

Day 271/365 - September 28

Oh.my.goodness...it actually feels like fall!

(Actual temp at 6:08 a.m.)

The best part? It's still September!! We don't usually get any cool temperatures until late October, so this is a huge welcome treat!

The second best part? The forecast shows these temps (and maybe even lows in the 40's) for another SEVEN days!!!

Day 270/365 - September 27

Another super long homework night.

I pick Avery up from school and we are home by 4:00. We jump right into homework.

We stopped long enough to eat a quick bite of dinner tonight and let Avery take a bath.

This is what time we finally finished homework and studying.

I don't know if SHE is more exhausted or ME.

Day 269/365 - September 26

When we got home from church today, Avery offerred to make my lunch.

A yummy PB&J sandwich.

It was delish because my sweet girl made it just for me out of love. It was super delish because I didn't have to make it or clean anything up!

Day 268/365 - September 25

I finally got to see my sweet girl play volleyball today (mouth guard and all).

Too bad every.little.sound bothered by pounding head. Ya know...the whistle, the buzzer, the cheering...those kinds of noises in a cramped gym.

Still, last night was a great time!

When we got home, I realized that I had a problem.

I always almost always put my shoes away when I take them off. Obviously, that has not been the case for oh, quite a few days.

It looks like there are my party shoes from last night, two pairs of dress shoes, and three pairs of flip flops. Yeah, it's been a couple of days.

They are all now in their rightful spots in the closet.

Day 267/365 - September 24

A few weeks ago, we received an invitation to the Harlequins Ball. We haven't attended a ball in several years and decided to go.

We had a wonderful time. Ran into lots of friends, visited, drank, danced. Just a super fun night. At least, what I remember of it was fun :)

Day 266/365 - September 23

While I was gone over the weekend, Avery made Princess a box.

She loves it and curls up in it all.the.time.

Avery loves this cat more than I could ever express.

Day 265/365 - September 22

Since I stocked up on so many staples last night, I needed somewhere to put them!

That meant it was time to clean out the pantry. Not one of my favorite things to do.

I bit the bullet and did it. Once again, I was reminded of how wasteful we I can be. Things get pushed to the back and forgotten about. Before you know it, they've gone bad and have to be trashed.

I will do better, I will do better, I will do better.

As much as I dislike the cleaning process, I really like the end result!

Oh, and take a peak at the wonderful treat Princess left for us. Remember, we found her on the tall kitchen cabinets a few weeks ago?

She obviously wasn't too scared because she's been back.

And she left evidence for us.

Yep, those are paw prints - ten feet up the wall.

Paw prints from what, you ask?

They are from the layers of dust that I'm sure she had to walk through while on top of said mile high cabinets - no doubt, chasing a bug of some kind.

I'm sure this is some kind of payback for the BAB dress up, modeling shoot Avery and I did with her over the weekend.

Day 264/365 - September 21

Avery had a TON of homework tonight. Guess that's what I get for commenting on the light load last week, huh?

Two tests tomorrow, two sets of questions in science, reading comprehension questions, and vocabulary words.

Ugh, I really don't like busy homework nights.

It does not make for a happy mom.

To give myself a break, I dumped the homework off on Wes for an hour or so and headed to my new fave store, Publix.

I was pretty excited about my super deal on soup this week! It's quick and easy to keep in my drawer at work for lunch and Wes can grab a can when he stops at home for lunch as well.

Think I stocked up on enough?

Day 263/365 - September 20

After putting this off for way.too.long, I finally gave in and subscribed to Mozy. It's an online back-up for your computer. I have so many files on my laptop (photos and scrapping supplies) and it was just plain stupid to not have them protected.

Based on the number of files I have, my initial back-up should be complete in...approximately one year. I'm really hoping it will only take about two months, but that's still a freakin' long time!

Day 262/365 - September 19

Poor Princess.

Avery loves to dress her up in all kinds of clothes.

Today she realized that the Build A Bear clothes fit Princess.

Poor, poor Princess.

Day 261/365 - September 18

Talk about a glorious day. I feel so blessed that I was able to attend Andrew's Christening. I managed to get several good pictures...just have to finish editing them.

Then came the ride home.

Oh, the ride home.

That's about the time that the stomach bug hit. Ya know, that bug that Avery's had for nearly a week now?

We stopped four times in less than an hour.  It was not good.

I even felt bad enough to let someone else drive. {gasp} If you knew who the other driver options were, you would understand (love you both Mom and Aunt Jane).

When I arrived home, Avery had the cutest sign waiting on me. Good thing she's not still upset with me for missing her very.first.ever.volleyball.game today. 'Cause, she was when I left yesterday!

I just love this girl so much!

Day 260/365 - September 17

This afternoon, Avery and I stopped by Barb's on Mulberry to pick up a Christening gift for my cousin Brian's baby (Andrew) this weekend.

While I was deciding what to buy, Avery found the Lubber bags.

She's had her eye on one for quite some time and I finally gave in today.

This kid has more bags than I do, but I must admit that this one IS pretty cute!

That Christening I mentioned? Yeah, it involved a five hour road trip to Mississippi with my Mom and aunt after work tonight. We left around 6:00 and (thanks to my speedy driving and NO thanks to the "wonderful" directional assistance provided by some one's (not calling any names here) GPS) arrived around 11:00. I don't know that we ever would've found the hotel without the help of my awesome new cell phone - it's GPS really saved us!

We did arrive though and were able to see Brian, Robin, and Andrew before calling it a night.

Day 259/365 - September 16

Avery has been fighting this crazy tummy bug for almost a week now. She's made it to school every day, but just doesn't feel good (cramping, not hungry, headache, etc).

I knew that today wasn't going to be a good day from the start, but she went to school and last until 11:00 when the school nurse called. She said there's been lots of stomach bugs going around along with strep. Needless to say, we had to take her to the doctor and rule out strep. Thankfully, no strep or UTI...just a bug.

Each year for Halloween, I end up ordering Avery several costumes from Chasing Fireflies. We both just l.o.v.e. their costumes and can't imagine finding anything that compares. Their sizes can be a little wonky though, so we find a few costumes that I order.

That gives us options to ensure we have a costume that fits. I just send back whatever we decide not to keep. Sound crazy? I'm sure it does, but it works for us.

Anywho, one of the costumes came in today.

Avery was super excited to see the box on the front porch when we got home from the doctor. The second costume is on back order and expected to ship on 09/30. That's the one that she's holding out for, so we'll see which one works best.

Day 258/365 - September 15

It's been a "fairly" light homework week so far. I know, I know...what am I doing? Next week I will pay for those words, I'm sure!

I figured it was high time I actually cook some dinner/real food for my family.

Tonight we had salisbury steak, corn on the cob, field peas, and deviled eggs.

Nothing fancy at all, but probably the first thing I've physically cooked in a long time!

Day 257/365 - September 14

Can't be football season without an Auburn flag hanging outside.

I love this new flag that Wes picked up for us last year...old school Aubie!

Day 256/365 - September 13

Avery's crazy cat has a new favorite spot.

That's the basket on top of our fridge.

Day 255/365 - September 12

Wes was invited on a dove shoot a few weeks back. This is one that he always takes Avery along for and this year, he decided to invite Robbie and Jack to join them.

Here are Wes and Avery all dressed and ready to go.

Avery taking a few shots at some cans. Wes said she did great!

Avery and Jack cooling off in the house (it was 100 degrees!).

Wes and Avery wrapping up a fun filled day.

Day 254/365 - September 11

We headed to Auburn for Bowman's 2nd birthday party today. Lots of little kids having a blast.

One of the party favors was this Wonder Pets mask that Avery thought was cute.

We also had a great night over at the Lowe's house watching the Alabama game. Good food and great company. The kids always have such a great time together - pretty funny considering Avery is a 9 yr old girl and their oldest boy is 7.

I don't know who has more fun playing, Avery or Wes!

Day 253/365 - September 10

Avery has been anxiously awaiting the day that I could finally eat lunch with her. The school asked that parents wait until after Labor Day to allow the teachers to get into their routines, etc.

Needless to say, Avery expected me to be there on Tuesday to eat. I wasn't.

I decided today would be the day I would come by and eat with her.

She was ecstatic that she got to pick two friends and we all were allowed to go outside and eat at the picnic tables. We were able to talk the entire time - that's a big deal since they are required to eat in silence for the first fifteen minutes and then talk during the last ten.

Avery brought Mamie and Caroline to outside to eat with us.

Tonight was the Back to School Bash, a huge fund raiser put on by the PTA.

Avery stood in line for nearly an hour waiting for her turn on this velcro jumper thing. They fitted her in a velcro suit...

...she jumped around and onto the velcro wall, peeled herself off, and started over again.

Five times she got to jump...for an hour wait.

Avery made sure to hit all the water attractions too.

I'd say she had fun though, what about you?

Day 252/365 - September 9

Signed papers came home today.

Don't really know why they call them signed papers...they're not signed until I sign and send them back. In my mind, they're graded papers.

Anywho, Avery continues to do well. She has 3 A's and 2 B's. I'm one happy Mama to see those grades, let me tell ya!

Day 251/365 - September 8

Avery had her first volleyball practice tonight.

Considering she (along with 9 out of 12 other girls) have never played before, it went fairly well. They have a lot to learn, but I think it will be a fun season.

Day 250/365 - September 7

Avery auditioned for the chorus at school last week.

I noticed the information about sign ups, but didn't mention it to her. She's had so many adjustments already, why add more to her plate?

Imagine my surprise when she told me that she went by the music teacher's room and signed up for an audition date.

I printed the lyrics for the song she had to sing and she worked on memorizing them for several days.

Audition day. Avery gets in the car that afternoon and tells me that she did terrible. They had to pick up singing in various locations in the song and sing various harmonies much slower than she was prepared for.

She goes on to say that if she doesn't make it, she will just try again next year. I was beyond proud of her positive outlook!

Lucky for Avery, she won't have to wait until next year!

Yep, my baby girl made the school chorus!!!

Day 249/365 - September 6

Wes finally broke down and replaced the lawn mower...with a push mower. I don't think he's very excited about the new purchase.

How can you not be? Let's look at the price comparison.

Push mower = $300
Riding mower = $3,000

Once you see the comma, there's really nothing to discuss.

Avery and I headed back to the Y for one last hoo-rah today.

I forgot the pool bag.

The pool bag had the sunscreen in it.

You know what that means. We both got a little bit too much sun.

We played about two hours and then headed home to get ready for dinner at the Goldens.

We had a yummy Labor Day BBQ filled with ribs, baked beans, cole slaw, deviled eggs, scalloped potatoes, fried okra, squash casserole, and I'm sure some other yummy food that I'm leaving out.

After dinner, Avery pulled out her knitting supplies. We picked up a kid's knitting book at the library Friday and the supplies from JoAnn's yesterday evening. She quickly picked up the basic stitch, but neither of us could get past that.

Avery was frustrated.

I was frustrated.

It wasn't pretty.

I'm hoping I can sweet talk her into learning to crochet.

Working with one needle HAS to be easier than working with two!

Day 248/365 - September 5

After the late night, we just didn't have it in us to make it to church today.

We did a little house work and just relaxed, trying to recover from Saturday.

I took Avery to the waterpark at the Y since it's closing this weekend after Labor Day.

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

See her relaxing in this chair? It's where she spent at least half our time there. She sat right beside me and we just talked. Sweetest.thing.ever.

The other part of the afternoon was spent going down these fun slides. Over and over again. Never gets old.

Day 247/365 - September 4

Today is the first game of Auburn football for the season- woo hoo!!!

We were fortunate enough to get two tickets (thanks to Wes's wonderful parents) and only had to buy a ticket for Avery. We headed up to Auburn early, making sure we had time to tailgate.

Avery saw Aubie and we snapped a few quick pictures.

While waiting for Tiger Walk, a nice fan took a family photo of us.

Once we made it into the stadium, we quickly got situated for Nova'a flight. If you've never seen this, it is simply an amazing sight!

Here, you can see Nova (War Eagle VII) on the right hand side of the score board in front of the Alabama Power sign.

Here, you see Nova (War Eagle VII) about to land in the middle of the field.

Like I said, simply unbelievable to observe such a magnificent creature right there in front of you!

After a not-so-impressive game, but better-looking final score of 52-26 over Arkansas State, we headed over to Toomer's Corner. Avery has been asking about rolling it after the next win ever since she heard about it a year ago. We promised her that the next time Auburn won, she could roll Toomer's Corner. We kept our promise tonight.

Avery thought it was the coolest thing. She had the best time and it was totally worth staying until the end of the game, getting stuck in all of the traffic, driving home while Wes and Avery slept, and not getting home until 11:30. No, really...it was.