My work Peeps!

I love the ladies I work with here on the second floor of the COSAM building! I am the baby of our bunch, but whenever a young lady turns 60 on our wing, they are treated to a ride of their life!! It started with my suite-mate, Betty, who turned 60 two years ago. The gals surprised her with a trip to her favorite lunch spot in the back of the Auburn Rickshaw. If you have been to Auburn on game-day, you have seen this guy out and about, earning his living!! So when the second of our lovely ladies was nearing the big SIX-O we planned the same special treatment without her knowing. She was surprised to say the very least! As she rode in her chariot through campus and downtown, we were in the car behind her honking the horn (to make sure EVERYONE saw her) and snapping quick pics with our cameras!
We had a fun time and a great lunch at 5Guys!

Early Easter Present

We took Emma Kate to Monkey Park to have her Easter pictures taken by a local photographer. It is a great deal and if you are in the area, you should use her!! For a VERY low fee, she takes about 75 pics and sends you the CD with a release so you can print them any way you please. I got the CD in the mail today and tweaked them a bit with Picassa editing. I love them!!

Girlfriends

Girls just have to have girlfriends. It is an unwritten rule, I am sure. It is funny how my friend Allyson and I have known each other for so long, yet it took us having little ones of our own to become close friends. Mary McKinnon and Emma Kate are hilarious together. They see each other at school and at church and other times when we throw them together as an excuse to have some of our own "girlfriend" time. Every time they see one another, they run, squeal and hug like it has been weeks since they last saw each other. It has usually been no more than 24 hours. In an hour's span the will have 14 fights, three tantrums, 17 hugs and at least one physical altercation. In our Sunday school class, Mary McKinnon and Emma Kate are often the only little girls surrounded by all boys. The boys stare with their mouths wide open, in silence as they try to figure out the dynamic between these two. So, Saturday, we (the mommies) decided to get the girls together while we sat and had some grown-up conversation. Although we had planned to only spend the afternoon at the Dozier home, we ended up staying through dinner, and bath time and even Mikey T came and hung out for the last two hours. (Mr. Alan was busy burning some land). Six hours with these two little ones was quite an adventure. We cannot wait to do it again!!

The End.

March signaled a lot of endings. First, The Mighty Might Nuggets ended their season with a devastating loss in the Championship Game. Sad, but they played hard on Wed, Friday and again on Saturday. Coaches and players (and fans) were sad, but it only means that Mighty Mighty Raptor travel basketball is about to start. It is a lot of fun. I know that sometimes I complain because it is a lot of work and a big commitment, but I love these kids. They love Coach Mike and Coach Deuce (brother michael) and they ADORE Emma Kate. The feeling is mutual. She is still madly in love with her bassetball boyz and they all do a great job of keeping her entertained. And I LOVE to see Mikey T and Deuce with these guys. We all sacrifice a lot, but we wouldn't have it any other way.Next, the end of the Beard-Eaves Coliseum. Sad. I have a lot of fun memories in that coliseum dating back to cheer camp in the ninth grade (Twin, DO YOU REMEMBER how HOT you got?? That is all I will say.) I watched a bazillion basketball and gymnastic meets there, both as a college student and as an alum. I watched friends become student athletes on that court and I graduated on that court. (Twin was there then, too) I had classes in that building and Emma Kate met her boyfriend, Aubie in that building. It has been true love ever since. I watched cousins and friends graduate there and I saw my fair share of concerts there as well. It is a horrid building. It was a inconvenient design and did nothing for Auburn recruiting. But the memories I have in that building are special and dear to me, so it was sad to attend the very last basketball game ever to be held there (Twin, you were there TOO!). It was a great ceremony and game!href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4-iTFhN3b-7YlYdnBydMT1gxWUHpSDcyooycCmMUMeWU6Cnpn6L8kebuaS_tT1AFHUKv1bRZ27fWmm1E4rrYA1113AjU1TS8FEL-v9l3Io0_bGWT_Xs2_tWPNvEte3LfwTMXCQhS9cOs/s1600-h/Picture+099.jpg">It was also the end of us shacking up with Mom. She was GRACIOUS enough to let us live with her for several months while we were in between our homes, and we cannot thank her enough. We are now just a hop, skip and jump away from her, although we are in Auburn proper now.

Finally, we have finally ended the reign of the pull-up. Emma Kate decided that it was finally time to be a full-time potty goer. My checkbook is very excited about this one!!! Once she decided, that was it. We haven't had any accidents. I tried to push her and that didn't work. Everyone said, "once she is ready you will know." In all of my control-freak issues, I tried to do it on my terms, but it was not working. Then one day, without bribes or threats or anything in-between, she was done. And she hasn't looked back. It is such a relief.

So, with the end of winter came a lot of endings, but all that means is we have a lot of new beginnings to look forward to!!

Gym'nastics.

Emma Kate takes tumbling and loves it. Her favorite thing to do this winter was to go to Aubie's 'Nastics Meets. I must say, Auburn gymnastics puts on quite a show. So, the week of the Florida meet, I was working with a student who is applying to medical school. Right away I recognized her name as one of Aubie's Gymnasts. I emailed her and told her that Emma Kate would LOVE to meet her after the meet that Friday. She was so gracious and said that she would love to meet EK.We watched to entire meet and all Emma Kate could talk about was her new best friend (that she had not yet met), Krissy. Every time someone stepped up to the vault run, she would say "Is 'dat Miss Krissy?." On the beam, "Is 'dat Miss Krissy?" Everything was "Miss Krissy."
After the meet, the girls were doing a signing session around the outer perimeter of the Coliseum. We ran up, got our poster and we were 3rd in line. SCORE. We waited patiently in line while the awards ceremony was going. We heard that Krissy had scored very high and placed in one event. When a gymnast places in the top three on any single event or overall, they are given an orange and blue bouquet of flowers.One by one, the AU gymnasts made it to the autograph table. They started pushing us down the line. Emma Kate was loving all the gymnasts, but there was only one she was longing to see. At the end of the table, where the other senior was sitting, there was one empty chair. We moved on down the line.
No Krissy.
Emma Kate kept saying, "Where is Krissy, mommy?"
I. Don't. Know.
Let's backtrack and explain how much I had talked up this little intro with Krissy. A LOT. Obnoxious. With a capital O. And I had been rubbing it in to Mike. He is the king of "big AU introductions." He is BFF with one the AU basketball coaches. He shoots the breeze with Trooper Taylor at high school basketball games. He has AU Men's Basketball Players on speed dial and they come to his kids' basketball practices to "inspire." He takes Emma Kate to the Basketball Offices upstairs in the coliseum to "Hang out" with the players and coaches. Coach Lebo's Dad, also Coach Lebo, help's Mike out with his play book.
So, let's just say, I had been so excited that I was going to deliver such a big AU celebrity in Emma Kate's eyes.
As we got to the last chair in the autograph session, Krissy was still no where in site. Emma Kate was almost to tears. Mike was explaining that we could see (AU BBALL PLAYER) Frankie Sullivan the next night at the basketball game.
EPIC FAIL.
We decided to just check the floor to see if she was still down there for some reason. "Maybe that is her?" I said as I squinted to see the four people left down by the floor mat. "Is dat Krissy, momma? Negative.
Then, suddenly, Mike says "Isn't that her?" It was. She was right beside us, about to walk into the herd of people waiting to get her signature. I called her name. She stopped in her tracks and turned to us. She came over to Emma Kate, bent down and said hello. She talked to her about tumbling and thanked her for coming to all the meets. Of course, I asked if she would pose for a picture. Of course, she agreed. She handed Emma Kate her award bouquet for the picture. Emma Kate was in awe. She said goodbye and I told Emma Kate to give her award bouquet back. Krissy said, "No, no, she can keep it! I gave it to her."SCORE. I had delivered!! Emma Kate was in love. With Krissy. With the flowers. With everything. Mike laughed at me all night as I talked about how great Emma Kate's new BFF was. I think he was a little jealous: No basketball player has ever presented Emma Kate with flowers!

Dentist

I have finally gotten over the whole haircut thing and I am ready to blog again! Really, I have been meaning to update for a week, but I kept forgetting my camera cord to upload pics, and I hate a blog with no pics.Yesterday, Emma Kate had her first dentist appointment. Miss Christi at Dr. Thompson's office was GREAT with Emma Kate.She wore sunglasses so that bright light didn't bother her and she let Miss Christi clean and count her teeth. When Dr. Thompson came in, she was a little scared of one of his tools, and bit down on it. She clenched it with her teeth and wouldn't let go. He had to beg her to open so he could have his tool back. Finally, he promised her a look into the prize box if she would let him finish. That was all she needed to hear. He finished her exam and all 20 of her teeth look great!
Half an hour and THREE prizes later, and we were out the door.