Hunting duck in Arizona . . . and winning a National Championship

Although our purpose in going to Phoenix, Arizona, was to go to the BCS National Championship game with Auburn vs. Oregon -- we flew out on Friday before to get to sight-see some of the area since neither of us had been there before. And it was a good thing too since Alabama froze over on Sunday, preventing many from arriving after purchasing pricey tickets in the thousands of dollars. Reports were that this was the highest priced sporting event of all time with tickets game day (if you could find them) of over $5,000 each!



I'll write more about our trip later, but I wanted to get my photos uploaded. And since I haven't had any sleep for over 24 hours . . . that will come later! But War Eagle! We did it -- and it's still so hard to believe!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend beginning in Madison with Casey, John, Kate, Anna, my mom and Stacy's mom. We were so surprised and excited to wake up Christmas morning to snow on the ground and flurries still in the air! Had to be careful with the great-grandmas -- and they were worried about the cold -- but it was a wonderful Christmas. We went to Christmas Eve service at Casey & John's church. On Christmas day, John's parents Kaye and Mitchell came up from Wadley to spend the day -- and we all watched Kate enjoy her multitude of gifts!



Anna cooked Christmas breakfast of egg casserole and a special coffee cake that Zach's family makes. And Casey cooked Christmas dinner of ham, sweet potato caserole, green bean casserole and rolls. W had plenty of desserts with MawMaw's red velvet cake and tea cakes -- and candy that Casey and Anna had made.

On Sunday, we headed down to Birmingham to Gary and Carolyn's (Stacy's brother) in Trussville. Their son Brian and Amanda came over and Greg and Jessi came up from Hartford to enjoy a wonderful Christmas lunch. Once again, we ate too much! We are so blessed to be able to celebrate with our families!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love Christmas time! I love the lights . . . and decorations . . . and the feel-good spirit of the season. No matter how tough things get, there's always the hope and joy of Christmas that lifts me up. And I love goofy Christmas movies! I've set the tivo to record every one on ABC Family Channel and Hallmark and Lifetime! And doesn't our little Kate look so precious in her Christmas photo by Casey?

So I've finally finished decorating my tree and the front of the house is all lit up. Stacy said, "Don't do that much this year!" That's because I tend to keep adding lights! One year, when I was still using colored lights for the kids, one of his students at school told him our house was "lit up like a juke joint!"

Anna has designed several Christmas cards, stickers and address labels that can be ordered from PaperStyle. Check out her blog and portfolio for what she's been working on lately.

And check out Casey's blog for what she's been doing lately with her photography. I'm always amazed by my talented daughters and how creative they are!

I do love Christmas! It is the most wonderful time of the year!

Footprints In The Sand

Every year for one certain conference I get to attend, the girls and I make it the "Girls' Conference." And Stacy isn't allowed! The first year we went, it was only me and Casey because Anna was working. Now that Anna can work from almost anywhere, she is able to go. We didn't get to go last year -- which disappointed the girls tremendously! And this year we added our newest girl, Kate!



What fun to spend three days with my favorite girls! They get to have fun while I'm in meetings during the day, and then we get to eat some great seafood and shop at the outlets in the evenings. And I sure did feel good when they told me Kate asked for CiCi when she woke up!

Kate loves the sand -- but this time she kept saying, "Ocean get you." We tried to tell her it wouldn't, but it was in her head and we don't know where she got that from!

When we got home Friday, they wanted to visit the Peanut Festival. The only way we could get Stacy to go was to tell him Kate wanted PawPaw to take her! She had to sit on every tractor there -- and of course PawPaw was happy to accommodate her! I told her to tell him she wanted a Gator!

And she loved all the animals. We fed and laughed at the goats and chickens -- ate corn dogs, elephant ears and roasted corn (my fav) -- watched the tiger show -- and waved at the big Peanut! She kept wanting to go back and see the peanut!

We ended the visit with a birthday party for Casey with MawMaw, Nanny and Jessi -- and it tugged at my heart as Kate waved to us when they drove out. At least we'll get to see them all again in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving!

Kate and the Wonder Horse

Kate, Casey and John were home this weekend for a short visit for Shera's baby shower (due in November) -- and we had a lot of fun with Kate! And Kate spread a lot of fun throughout the house! Casey found the old bouncy "Wonder Horse" in the attic and brought it down for Kate to ride on! And Kate made Casey ride on it too!



The Wonder Horse was my sister's that my mom said they bought when Susan turned two - so that would have been 1959. (Bought it so she wouldn't be jealous of my brother Walker, who was born in March of that year!) Does that make it - and me - an antique? Kate is fearless on it and looked like she was riding in the Kentucky Derby!

At the shower was Shera and soon-to-be-daughter Parker, Jill and daughter Sophie, Brooke and son Brody, Heather and daughter Luci, and Casey with Kate. So fun to see them all with their kids - and other than Kate trying to steal Brody's choo-choo, they all played well together! Sophie was so cute with her lemonade stand (that she charged $60 for her lemonade - no checks!)

Although it was over too soon, we enjoy our time with Kate. She loves to go look at the cows and to play outside -- and she loves any type of ball. We got to have some great "Oak Grove" shrimp (yes, it was really good) and lunch at MawMaw's today with Jessi and Nanny. (And fun with my friends Sat. morning going to the Holiday of Hope in Dothan and the Botanical Gardens Scarecrows exhibit!)

My New Spa

Ok, so our bathroom isn't exactly a spa -- and it is really tiny for a master bath. But to us, our remodel is a spa! Matt Rosser (Cutting Edge Construction) did a great job! Love the tiled shower (Dale Pitts, Pitts Floor Covering). I finally got it cleaned up enough for us to take a shower -- and I think I stayed in there for 30 minutes! We still have to hang the cabinet on the wall, but it's now in operation!

Grandma CiCi's Firsts

I am blessed to be the benefactor of a couple of Kate's "firsts"! The fact that those firsts include "poo" is just a side bar!

The latest of those firsts was this weekend when I lovingly gave up my Auburn ticket to my daughter Casey (wasn't that sweet of me?) to get to babysit for my adorable granddaughter Kate! Ok, so maybe I wasn't so generous because it's a moot point. Kate will always trump Auburn!

So after tailgating with the fam (missed you, Anna and Zach!), Kaye and Mitchell (other grandparents) and I loaded up Kate in the truck and went to Dana and Lance's home (John's sister) and their two boys Lang and Landon. The kids had a blast destroying the house with toys and balls (Kate's favorite) and colors (Kate's second favorite). She also got a chance to color with "markers" (which her mom doesn't let her have)! They all played so good together, and Kate was absolutely worn out by the time the game was over.

But I digress! Back to my "first." For some time, Kate's been becoming aware when she needs to "poo." She's 18 months, so this is normal. One night she tried to tell her dad John when he was giving her a bath -- and they ended up with poo in the tub!

So we're enjoying the game and the kids are playing, and Kate comes up to me pulling at her pj's saying "poo." So we rush to the bathroom (with a kid-sized potty) and I strip her down and she sits on the pot for about 1 second, then jumps up and runs into the den only to pee on the floor! Bummer!

I clean that up and we get her dressed again, and she comes back pulling at her pj's in about 10 minutes. I think she's bluffing again and just wants to run around naked, so I put her off! Then she comes back in a minute in desperation pulling at her pj's and saying, "poo, poo!"

So here we go again to the bathroom, disrobe and she sits on the pot. Again, she jumps up, but in the process, out pops the "poo" into the potty! Scared her to pieces!! I tried to tell her it was a "good thing" and made a big deal of telling her how big she was. We wipe, put the poo in the big potty, and I asked her if she wanted to flush it away? Oooooh nooooo. She's scared of the big potty! Hopefully I didn't tramatize her too much . . . and she'll be pooing in the potty for good -- which would please her parents, since neither much like changing poopy diapers!

So, proud grandma CiCi got to experience Kate's first "poo in the potty" experience! I'm so proud! Maybe I'll start calling her "Kater Poo!"

And my other first poo experience? I changed her very first poo diaper when she was in the hospital! As long as I don't get known as the "poo grandma" I'll be okay! Any time I get to spend with Kate is wonderful . . . even if it's sitting on the potty!

(And she looked so cute in her little Auburn cheerleader suit CiCi and PawPaw got her!)