Mr. H - Horrible Hair

Mr. H had Horrible Hair and unfortunately...so does Reid...

Many of you will not remember The Letter People but they were the staple of my kindergarten year at Bethesda Elementary. Miss Janet had blow up dolls of all The Letter People and once a week, she rolled in the library's TV cart, tuned the TV set to PBS and we would watch that week's episode of The Letter People. They all had amazing songs and this week I present to you the letter H featuring Mr. H with Horrible Hair.

This is Reid's hair after several, several, several days without a shower..."who needs a shower when you are just hanging out at home playing with all of your awesome Christmas loot?"

Be sure and push the play button on the playlist to the right and sing along!!!

I'm Mr. H, hello hello!

How do you do, and do you know,

That I'm so handsome and adorable,

My happy hair is everywhere.

And so much hair makes people stare...IT'S HORRIBLE!

Oh horrible hair, My horrible hair,

Oh how I love this crown I wear.

I'll never never stop at any barber shop,

To cut my glorious horrible hair.

SO THERE!

I'm Mr. H, goodbye goodbye,

Next time we meet,

You'll know me by,

My head, so handsome and adorable,

My horrible hair is everywhere,

My happy hair makes people stare.

It's HORRIBLE!...HORRIBLE!...HORRIBLE!

Now, when the show returned in the 90's...Mr. H's Horrible Hair had been changed to Happy Hair so that no ones self-confidence was shattered during kindergarten. So is this why I always think my hair looks horrible?

Hope you are having a good hair day!!!

Melissa

O Holy Night

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees!

Oh hear the angel voices!

Oh night divine!

Oh night when Christ was born!

Oh night divine! Oh night! Oh night divine!

Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother,

and in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise his holy name.

Christ is the lord, that ever, ever praise we.

Noel! Noel!

Oh night, oh night divine!

Noel! Noel!

Oh night, oh night divine!

Noel! Noel! Oh night, oh night divine!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Thank you Father for this wonderful gift...the gift of a Saviour.

Merry Christmas from the Workman's!

Melissa

Deck the Halls - A Christmas Story Style

Deck the Halls with broughs of hol-ree, Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra....

A Christmas Story is Ryan's favorite, favorite, favorite Christmas movie. Every year on Christmas Eve for a full 24 hours our television is devoted to the A Christmas Story marathon. Each year, Ryan receives a new A Christmas Story House for his A Christmas Story village. He loves Ralph, Flick, and Schwartz, the Red Rider BB Gun, the leg lamp, "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out", the Bumpous hounds, the Chop Suey singers, all of it. He laughs out loud every time he watches it. And I love that about him.

An amazing little status post on Faceb**k by KW, tipped me off to some available tickets to TPAC to see the TN Rep's version of A Christmas Story. Honestly, I had no idea that the play was at TPAC. So, I decided to pull a little Christmas surprise and get the tickets for the kids and I to take Ryan to see A Christmas Story - Broadway style. I called sweet Carolyn (Ryan's mom) and suggested that this would be an awesome Christmas present for us. She agreed, checks were mailed, tickets were purchased and the surprise was on. We were doing really well about keeping the surprise until Wednesday when Ryan happened to wear his "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" t-shirt and Kendall happened to mention to him that he should save that shirt to wear on Friday evening. So, he knew that his surprise had something to do with A Christmas Story...he just didn't know everything.

Friday morning, I told Ryan that I would be home at 4 and we needed to be ready to leave the house by 5 for his surprise night out. I got home, got everybody changed into night out on the town clothes and he headed to Nash-vegas for our night of fun.

First, since my awesome mother in law not only gave us the tickets as our Christmas present, but she gave us some spending money for dinner out before the show...we got to go to dinner at everyone's favorite downtown restaurant...

Daddy and the kids looking over the menu before we ordered....Notice the cowboy hat in the background...remember we are in Nash-vegas...

What we love about Demo's besides the fabulous food, great prices, and fantastic service...is that my very picky eater kids both love, love, love the all you can eat chicken and rice soup...Here is Kendall finishing her 3rd bowl...yes, I said 3rd bowl...

And here's Reid shoveling in a big spoonful...


After dinner, we headed over to TPAC...Here is the obligatory shot in front of the TPAC Christmas tree...
And what is it about water streaming down a wall that makes 8 year old boys want to touch it?...

And then we managed to get into the theater and into our seats...which by the way...were on the front row of the Johnson theater...that's right I said front row...

The night was fantastic. The TN Rep Actors were phenomenal!!! The play was interactive so Kendall was in a couple of scenes...(made her year)...she was in the scene where Flick puts his tongue on the flag pole as an extra school yard child. She and Reid got to throw streamers when Ralphie won his award for his amazing Red Rider BB Gun English Theme. Kendall also got to hold the wrapped Christmas package that held Ralphie's BB Gun and then hand it to Ralphie. The play even included a few "scenes" from the Nutcracker Suite - which Bebe, Jenny and Kendall usually go to see during Christmas, but were not able to this year. Every scene from the movie was included even the Chop Suey palace waiters singing Deck the Halls....too funny!!!!

Interesting note about the BB gun that Kendall got to hold...it was the original BB Gun used in the movie. The owner of the gun loaned it to the TN Rep company to use during performances. We tried to get Ryan's picture made with the gun but by the time we got out of the theater, they had already "locked the gun up for the night".

We also got to stay after the performance for a one on one question and answer session with the set designer for the play. He was really cool, had some great prop ideas and tips, and even taught us how to make frosted glass on a budget, things that every 1st-6th grade Ministry Assistant and her set designing husband should know!!! The frosted glass lesson ended up being a great tip because on Saturday morning at the Student Dodgeball tournament, TJ asked Ryan to help him build a set this week...and it needed frosted glass...don't you just love how God works sometimes???

A wonderful, fantastic, magical Christmas memory was made by the Workman's on this "Daddy's Surprise Night Out". Thank you to KW, and Carolyn for your part in making this happen. I hope it is a Christmas tradition that we can continue throughout the years!!!

Melissa

P.S. If a Red Rider BB Gun is on your Christmas list....be careful...because you know what could happen...You can shoot your eye out!!!!

I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas Remix

You know how I was just saying that I thought this should be Reid's theme song...not Remy's...well...I just received this email from Reid's 2nd grade teacher:

Ryan and Melissa,
I would like to have a conference with both of you if possible concerning Reid’s behavior. I feel I have been very understanding and given many chances for him to correct his behavior. Unfortunately it hasn’t changed. I would also like Reid to sit in on this conference. If you could meet one morning at 8:00, after school at 3:45 or during our specials which is at 12:35-1:20 I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Mrs. S

So...Reid...You're getting nuttin' for Christmas unless you straighten up!!!!

Melissa

I'm Getting Nuttin' For Christmas

Here is Remy the Sewer Cat in the branches of my freshly decorated Christmas tree...

And below is Remy's new Christmas theme song...

I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas

Mommy and Daddy are mad.

I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas

'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.

Funny - I really thought this would be Reid's Christmas theme song!!!

Melissa

Back In Black

On Black Friday...that's what stores do...they get "Back in the Black"...they do this by offering crazy amazing deals and publishing their ads in the Thursday paper so that crazy people will stay up all night and shop on Friday...more on that in a moment.

It is the Thomason family tradition to eat a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together on Thanksgiving Day. We call this Grandpa Thanksgiving because this is when we get together with my Grandpa, and my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side of the family. We have traditional turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, green beans...you know the works...and once we are sufficiently stuffed...it is the tradition of Patty, Melissa, Jenny and Bebe to get out the Thursday paper, start scouring through the ads and making our Black Friday plan of attack list. Now, to successfully shop on Black Friday...you must have a plan of attack. Sometimes this plan includes but it is not limited to...making your shopping list - in order by store opening time, with pictures cut out from the ads - because you need to be able to verify what you saw in the add verses what you find in the store, putting Bebe in line while the rest of us shop and bring her stuff, multiple cell phone calls throughout the store, and/or getting up at 3 a.m. This year the plan included all of these strategies and a few more. We were excited when Kelsie decided to join the fun this year. Here she is with her first Black Friday ad, a pair of paper scissors, and she is getting ready to cut out her very first sale picture ever...

It is very, very exciting when a newbie makes her first cut...and she even talked David her sweet hubbie into going shopping with her...and she talked Gum-Gum and Mimi into letting her girls spend the night with them...Man, this girl is good for a first timer!!!

Here is Melissa's pile. This pile includes my cut out ads, my excel spreadsheet Christmas list, and my K*hl's, Tar-jay and B*lk sale paper. Once I get home from Grandpa's Thanksgiving, I will take a glue stick and glue my pictures to my spreadsheet. Silly me made a rookie mistake and forgot to bring my glue stick to Thanksgiving.

See how the K*hl's ad mentions that there are over 200 Early Bird specials at 4 a.m.??? This years twist was that T*ys R Us was opening for the first time ever at Midnight. That's right I said midnight. There were several midnight early bird specials that the group needed at midnight so our first planned stop was T*ys R Us...at midnight!!!

The plan was to pick up Jenny at 10:55 p.m., Bebe and Sandy at 11:00 p.m. and then Patty at 11:15 p.m., then head to Cool Springs. However, at 10:20 p.m., Kelsie called Bebe from the Murfreesboro T*ys R Us and said that there were 800 people in line and that if we were going, we needed to get on the road and in line. So, we bumped up departure time and headed out. While we were in pick up mode, Bonnie called (because she and Bryan were in Nashville and Kelsie had sent her to check the status of the Cool Springs T*ys), she reported that there were only about 100 people in line at Cool Springs T*ys and that cars were pulling in quickly. We pulled into the parking lot to discover this line...

The end of the line when we pulled up was at HH Gr*gg, which is a 3-4 building strip mall down from the front door of T*ys. As I am walking down the long row of shoppers, I hear "Melissa Workman" being hollered...it is none other than Big T (my racing buddy) and her son Brandon. They had gotten there about 30 minutes before us and had a sweet spot in line.

This pic is a little dark...maybe it has something to do with the fact that is is 11:30 p.m...but here is the gang waiting in line at T*ys...Patty, Bebe, Sandy, Mel and Jenny. This pic was taken so that we could prove to Jason that Sandy could stay up past 9 p.m. By this time our rookie, Kelsie, had given up with all the crazies in M'boro, in fact, David said that he was changing his middle name to David "Retail" Prince and that he had a new respect for the crazy ladies in his family. There was no way we were giving up and then a Black Friday miracle occurred...the fantastic manager of Cool Springs T*ys, came down the long line to pass out "tickets" for some of the midnight specials. Tickets are awesome because if there is a limited number of an item, the retailer gives out tickets, and then you are guaranteed the item once you get in the store. One of the tickets that he had was one of the things Kelsie had wanted. So we grabbed a ticket, called Kelsie and told her that we had a ticket for the pony and not to worry that she and David had bailed on their first outing. Score! The doors opened and we scurried through the store. I got everything on my list, double checked it against my pictures and all 5 of us were successful. All 6 of us, if you count the pony I picked up for Kelsie. :-)

Now, here was the small kink in our plan. Midnight opening at T*ys...then the next store does not open until 4 a.m....so what do you do...stop at Wally World to kill a little time, pee, and then go to Waffle House to have a little 1:30 a.m. snack...

After our snack, we headed to B*lk to take a little nap while we waited for 4 a.m. Here is my truck dash at 2:25 a.m.....after a short snooze, we headed back over to Wally World to pee again...Patty was worried that the people in WW would complain because we were going there a 2nd time to pee but I told her not to worry, we would just tell them we were homeless if they asked...this almost caused Patty to pee in the WW lobby. Back to the B*lk parking lot, just in time for the doors to open.

After B*lk, we hit K*hls at 5 a.m, Tar-jay at 6 a.m. and by 7 a.m. we were headed home. And this is what Mel's truck looks like after 5 women have Christmas shopped Black Friday from midnight to 7 a.m.

During the night, we did decide a couple of things...1) It is much easier to just stay up and shop all night than it is to go to bed, get up at 3 a.m. and start shopping, 2) if T*ys is going to continue to open at midnight, the other stores are going to have to coordinate and open at 2, 3, and 4 a.m. so there is not as much lag time in between openings and 3) next year, I might have to buy a bigger truck. :-)

So, if my truck is any indication....The stores mentioned in my post above should all be "Back in Black"!!!!

Melissa

Rock and Roll Love Letter

A little history behind today's song title. The Bay City Rollers were a Pop/Rock (BubbleGum) group from Scotland in the 1970's. Yes, I'm showing a little age with today's song. The group consisted of guitarists Eric & Stuart, drummer Derek, bassist Alan, and cutie patootie with blue eyes lead singer, Les. They had a TV show on in 1978 on Saturday mornings on NBC called "The Bay City Rollers Show" - completely original - and Jenny and I used to get up every Saturday morning and crank the TV watching their silly show and singing at the top of our lungs to Keep on Dancin', Rock and Roll Love Letter, and S A T U R D A Y Night. We, of course, had all of their ALBUMS! Good Times!!!

This is the Rock and Roll Love Letter that Tay Tay sent to Reid on Wednesday afternoon...
Dear Reid,

I'm down at Julia's (okay this is where sister is/will be). The scratched out line says "Sparky, Maybelle and Monroe are still outside, please get them in." (During the writing of this Love Letter - the dogs must have gotten done with their business and returned inside.) You can play with Cullen & Jacob if you want to, if not stay inside. (Instructions from Safety Kendall on who to play with or not, and where to play.) Mom should be home shortly. (And now we know that Mom is on her way.) WEAR A JACKET OUTSIDE!!! (Safety Kendall at work once again, it was chilly outside that afternoon.)

(And my absolute favorite part of the note...the signature) Love, Kendall Workman (Because you never know...just cause a letter might be signed Kendall...that doesn't mean that it is your sister Kendall who has the same last name as you.)

Now, if you'd like to reminisce, go up to the right hand corner and press the play button on the mp3 of Rock and Roll Love Letter...

Dear sister poet, dear brother poet too
These tears are words that
Make me wanna be with you
But I need to spend my body
I'm a music makin' man
And no page can release it like this amplifier can...

This is my rock and roll love letter to you
This is my rock and roll love letter to you
Gonna sign it, gonna seal it, gonna mail it away
Gonna mail it today (Or I'm gonna tape it to the front door for you to find when you get off the bus.)

I Love These Two Kiddos of Mine!!! They crack me up!!!

Melissa

Life's What You Make It

I had to go back to the amazing Dr. R today for some foot surgery follow-up. Her office is off of West End Avenue, near the Vanderbilt campus. It is a hip and trendy part of Nashville where Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are often spotted at Starbucks and Vince Gill and Amy Grant are spotted at Vandy games...more on that in a moment...

When Ryan and I started dating years ago, we adopted the "Life Is What You Make It" philosophy. We agreed that whenever the opportunity presented itself that we would have fun, stop and smell the roses, laugh, eat good food, and never let an opportunity slip by...So to spice up our doctor adventure today (and to maybe cure some of the my husband is out of work blues I was feeling), Ryan suggested that we eat at J. Alexander's for lunch. On West End. Where celebrities are spotted.

While we are eating, a very lovely and talented young lady and her friend arrive at the restaurant and get seated at the booth right beside the table where Ryan and I are sitting. Celebrity Sighting Alert...It was Miley Cyrus. Okay, so I would have preferred for it to be Jeff Gordon, Keith Urban, Rick Springfield, Jon Bon Jovi, etc. But a celebrity sighting is a celebrity sighting.

Now, as a professional stalker, I have been known to cause a scene when a celebrity crosses my path. But today...I smiled at Miley and let her eat lunch in peace. However, I did throw my purse up on the table and start texting from my phone to let all my peeps know that I was eating lunch with Miley. Too bad Tay-Tay wasn't with us - if she had been, I would have completely mortified her and made her talk to Miley so that I too could talk to her.

I wonder who I will eat lunch with tomorrow............

Melissa

Long Time Gone

I've been a Long Time Gone - approximately 4 weeks to be exact. Nothing much has gone on in the Workman household during the last 4 weeks. For me it has just a lot of sitting in the lazy-boy, watching TV, being spoiled by my amazing friends with fabulously yummy meals every night, being treated by my BFF Ash to Saturdays full of sitting on her couch and watching college football and eating yummy tailgating food, being driven around S*m's and Targay in a wheelchair by the work girls for my retail therapy, and Ryan (the best nurse, husband and father - EVER!!!) waiting on me hand and foot. I have not driven my truck in 3 1/2 weeks - that alone has just about sent me over the edge.

I had plantar fasciitis surgery. My amazing doctor, Dr. R, said my plantar fascia tendon was the worst tendon she'd ever seen with lots of scar tissue. It never would have healed on its own. She lovingly removed the scar tissue, clipped the tendon from the bone and has relieved my PF pain. I was in a cast and completely non-weight bearing for the past 3 weeks. It is amazing how ridiculously hard it is to be non-weight bearing. I seem to remember that it was so much easier 20+ years ago. So, I pretty much went from the bed to the chair, and then back. And let's not even discuss taking a shower while standing on one leg.

And, then, on Thursday, Dr. R, removed my cast. And while I was thankful to have the cast off, Dr. R then went all crazy and wanted me to try to walk with crutches but without a walking boot. I was so sure I would have the stability and comfort of my good old walking boot that I've come to know and love. And on top of that, she also wanted me to wean myself off of the crutches within 1 week. I was pretty sure that she had lost her mind at this point. I was more than scared to put weight on my foot but I tried it and well, let's just say that I did not fall on my face. In fact, it is now Saturday and I'm down to one crutch. I am recovering slowly but surely. My foot is getting stronger and I am gaining more confidence with walking every day.

Thank you to my hubby Ryan, to my sweet friends, to my family, to my taxi drivers, and to my amazing Dr. R. I love each of you and appreciate everything you have done for me and my family over the last few weeks. I could not have gone through this surgery without your help and support. I love you all!!!

Hopefully, I will be dancing by New Years!!!!!

Melissa

Stray Cat Strut

Meet Remy...He is one of the two stray kittens that Reid and Jackson rescued from the storm drain while I was out of town this weekend.


He is named Remy after the Rat in Ratatouille movie. Get it? Sewer Rat = Storm/Sewer Rescued Cat. Jackson named his kitten Grip cause once he was rescued, he kept a good grip on Jackson.

Here's Remy all curled up in Reid's arm...

So I guess the old saying is true....While Momma Cat is away in Atlanta with the girls, the Boy Mice will play in the storm drain and rescue kittens.

Melissa

Jump

Reid, Griffin and Dane spent last Thursday afternoon "Jump"ing the skateboard ramp. And, yes, I realize they are not wearing helmets...what's a fun afternoon at Mo's house with helmets on?...and didn't Uncle Beau survive his childhood without a helmet?...'Nough said. :-)

First, I give you Reid's Jump version:



Then, I give you Griffin's Jump version:



And, last, but not least, I give you Dane's Jump version:



And in the classic rock words of David Lee Roth - Go ahead and jump, might as well, jump!!!!

Mo

Too Much Fun

That's exactly what we had on our Redneck Romance RV Racing Relaxation Weekend...Too Much Fun!!! For the redneck, RV, racing, relaxation part, just keep reading. For those of you questioning the romance part - when you are busy working parents - just getting away with other adults, no kids, and enjoying a sport together counts as romance.

Here's the chorus of the song:

Too much fun? What's that mean?
(Too much fun is 6 adults in a RV headed for a racing weekend in Atlanta.)
It's like too much money, there's no such thing,
(If we had too much money, we would own the RV, not rent it and we'd rent the $800 electric hook-up camping spot, and not use the generator.)
It's like a girl too pretty, with too much class,
(#14 Tony fan in front of us, you can't hide class like that!!!)
Being too lucky, a car too fast,
(Kasey's was real fast - he won the race!)
No matter what they say I've done,
(And apparently, according to the stories that were told, we've all done plenty!!!)
I ain't never had too much fun!!!
(Yes, on this trip, we did have TOO MUCH FUN!!!!)

( I can't find a mp3 of the Too Much Fun song. It is by Daryle Singletary if you'd like to google and listen to it.)

Big T, Jeff, Ryan and I have gone to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the last couple of years for the fall race. We always have a big time...like last year...when we purchased pit passes. We usually stay at Cousin Jeff's, drive down to Atlanta on Saturday, watch a little college football, get up nice and early on Sunday, drive down to the track, tailgate, race and then head back to Cousin Jeff's for Sunday night and have a leisurely drive back home on Monday. But this year that all changed....

The first change is that the Atlanta Motor Speedway changed its fall race from the last weekend of October to Labor Day weekend in September and moved the race to a night race. How convenient!!! We would no longer have to take Monday off to enjoy racing in Atlanta. Monday is already a holiday. The second change is that we invited the Vantrease's to go with us along with the Stahly's. The Vantrease's had never been to a race. They would be the second newbies of 2009 that we (Workman's and Stahly's) treated right for their first race experience. The third change, since we would be really late getting back from the races on Sunday evening (since the race did not start until almost 8pm eastern time), we decided to rent a RV and camp/tailgate for the entire weekend. This would allow us to enjoy the Nationwide race, Sprint Cup qualifying, and the Sprint Cup race. All things we had never done before. And let me tell you....IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I've always wondered how it would be to pull up my camper, live at the track for a weekend, and enjoy all of the redneckness that is possible to man...I no longer have to wonder. We had a BLAST!!!

Ryan and Gary picked up the RV on Friday while Big T, Ash and I grocery shopped. While at the store, we bumped into Grandpa and Mattie. When I told him what we were doing this weekend, he simply replied, "Tell Ryan not to be texting while driving the RV." 10-4, Grandpa, No texting while driving!! We get back from Kr*g*rs to find this beast sitting in my front yard, parallel with the house, plugged into the electricity so the fridge can get cold....

The neighborhood kids all wanted a tour and Ryan piddled with the RV until late into Friday night. We all loaded up as much as we could...including tons of yummy food, cornhole, coolers, chairs, tables, skillets, grills, spatulas...you name it...we had it!!!

After sleeping very little on Friday night because 1. I was too excited to sleep and 2. cause Ryan kept thinking of things he could check on or pack into the RV, we loaded up bright and early on Saturday morning and headed out to pick up our racing peeps. As Ryan and I are turning out of our neighborhood he says to me..."Do you realize the amount of piddling hours I could burn if we owned this RV?" Yes, I do...and it scares me...

We are picking up the V's when I got this text from Big T..."Calling the Rolling Turd, Where is the Rolling Turd?" And from that moment on, the laughing, the eating, the fun, the eating (yes, I put eating twice - we love us some good eatin')...NEVER STOPPED. Now, there is absolutely no way to explain how much fun we had on this trip. So, here are some highlighted quotes. They probably won't be funny to anyone but us but that's okay...this weekend will forever be cemented in our minds as one of the BEST EVER!!!

Well, dude said, when we drove by and Ryan was showing him his stuff, that the gas man would come by...

I'm way back here if you need me!!!

Who cares about Kevin Harvick's win and his victory lane hat dance...put THE GAME on the big screen!!! (I'll give anyone a blog shout out if they can guess who said that one.)

Who says you can't do it in a RV? (Now get your mind out of the gutter - the "it" referred to in this question was the incredible breakfast spread of bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and fruit that we had for breakfast on Sunday morning.)

A man's work is never done when you are on a campin' trip.

You gotta be present to win!!!

Hello, I'm AV, and I have a homemade rice krispie treat problem...that's okay, AV, the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.

Now, when we get home, I don't want to hear, "Does my butt look big?"

Okay, Melissa, you need to pull yours up!



I give her until lap 200. (And by our calculations - she officially left the stands around lap 204.)

She went from praising God to flippin' the bird at Kyle Busch in less than 1 lap!!! But she kept calling him Kurt Busch!!! Her boyfriend kept having to tell her, honey it's Kyle that you don't like, Oh yeah, right....

I could drive this car a lot better if those walls weren't so wavy...

How many laps in this race? 325. What? That's past my bedtime!

Take my picture and email it to me. Okay what's your email address? I don't know, give me yours and I'll email you first...WHATEVER!!!!

Kasey Kahne won and he thanked me!!! So you mean, he thanked all of his loyal fans?

Vegas - I spent a month there one week!!!

They have not had a shirt on since we pulled into this RV space. Do you think they even brought shirts?

On Monday, as we headed home...we stopped in Marietta to have lunch with Cousin Jeff, LeAnn and Davis. C. Jeff wanted to go to Chik Fil A because if you had your team shirt on, you got a free sandwich. C. Jeff wasn't sure that our race shirts would count as "team" shirts so he pulled out some extra Ole Miss and TN shirts for us to use. When reporting this info to the RV peeps...
this was the response I got..."Jeff's got shirts laid out, he's C-R-A-Z-Y!!!" AV jumps up and runs the 14 steps to the back of the RV..."I'm putting on my Bama shirt". I was pretty sure that all the Alabama clothes in AV's bag had been worn so I asked, "Do you have a clean Bama shirt with you?" AV's reply..."No, but a dirty Alabama shirt is better than a clean Ole Miss one!"

Big T choose to try the NASCAR team route with her shirt in Chik Fil A. When she asked if her winning team #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge shirt counted as a team shirt, the CFA order taker said "Anyone who sits in a car for 5 hours and doesn't pee, counts as a team to me". So, Big T ate a free sandwich without having to put on any contraband college team attire.

We stopped in Manchester to fill up the RV tanks and dump others of the RV tanks. I made the mistake of saying "So, can you just pull up and dump your stuff?" You can only imagine the tons of jokes that got played off of that one!

And as Ryan, Gary and Jeff stood at the dumping station, with the hoses hooked up, and ready to press the button to start dumping....possibly one of the best lines of the trip....Ryan says "I really like these shorts, I'd hate for something to happen to them."

We arrived safely home on Monday evening...unloaded the RV...and returned to our just a tick above cool and normal lives. And we can't wait for the next road trip!!!!

In this pic, AV still has on that dirty Bama shirt. And for those wondering Grace did not go with us, but she had not seen Daddy all weekend and wasn't about to let go of him. :-)

Melissa

Killing Me Softly

This week I have had two conversations with my kids that just about killed me...2 different kids...2 different types of killing me....

Conversation with Tay-Tay:

Tay: Mom, this afternoon, there were kids on the bus cussing, and it just destroyed me.

Me: Destroyed? Don't you mean that you were distraught?

Tay: No, I was destroyed. It broke my heart that kids would be using those words...and Mom, it wasn't the "okay" cuss words like you and Bebe use, or ones like I hear in PG-13 movies, it was the really bad ones!!!

Me: Oh, really, ouch, ummm......I'm so sorry you had to hear that hon.

Tay: It's okay, mom, I'm alright.

Conversation with Reid:

Reid: So mom, when you say that you are going to kill me, do you mean you are going to KILL kill me, or just that you are going to beat me?

Me: It just means that I am going to give you a really bad spanking, not that I'm actually going to KILL kill you.

Reid: Well, if you do KILL kill me, that's okay, because I'm going to heaven.

No argument from me, you will be going to heaven (see the Happy Day post). Glad you are comfortable with me killing you...just in case...

Melissa

Love Stinks

Reid comes flying in the front door this afternoon singing "Love Stinks". So, I asked "Why are you singing that song?" Reid's flippant reply..."Oh, I got dumped by my girlfriend today at school...", as he is running back out the front door.

I simply thought to myself...What girlfriend at school???

Alone

While watching TV on Sunday evening as a family, a commercial comes on in which a dad is speaking of how embarassing it is to speak to your children about sex.

...Note while reading...words in italics were said with extreme emphasis...

Reid, who is working on a pirate Lego set at the time, chimes in with "Why in the world would you want to talk to your kids about sex?"

I answered (after picking up my jaw off the floor) "Reid, parents have to discuss sex with their kids, things like what sex is, when to have sex..."

Reid: Really, well I already know about sex.

Me: Okay, what do you know about sex?

Reid: I don't want to talk about it.

Me: Okay, so do you know when you are supposed to have sex?

Reid: "DUUUHHH!!!! When you are alone!"

Ryan and I could not help but laugh (hysterically I might add) and Kendall is on the couch rolling her eyes wishing she could crawl under a rock and disappear.

...Once we regained composure...

Me: No, let me rephrase, at what point in your life do you have sex?

Reid: Ummmmm....

Me: Rephrasing again, You can have sex when you get......

Reid: Married?!?!?

Me: Whew, at least you answered that one right! Ryan, you need to speak to your son!

Oh my goodness, I've said it before, and I'm sure I will say it a million times....I am in SOOOO much trouble with this precious 8 year old!!!!

Melissa

Stuck in the "Middle" with You

Today was Tay-Tay's first day of Middle School. How did she get this grown up and ready to enter 6th grade this fast? It seems like only yesterday that Granny Retta was telling me that Baby Rose was not big enough to go to school and she was talking about Sunshine Day School.

Tay-Tay's morning started off with Daddy waking her up, fixing her a blueberry waffle, getting dressed, brushing teeth and then flat-ironing her hair...that's right I said flat-ironing her hair. What's next, a little mascara and eyeliner? Yes, I know it is coming...

And notice I said that Daddy woke her up. Tay-Tay and I butt heads frequently. I'm thinking it is because we are too much alike. On Sunday, I got very frustrated with Kendall because she was being very moody over taking a picture with Mommy and Reid. As Ryan and I are discussing how to handle the situation, it was decided that Ryan would "handle" Tay-Tay and Melissa would "handle" Reid from now on. Of course, this was a conversation that Ryan and I had, and did not realize that Tay-Tay had overheard it. Can't wait for the day that Ryan gives her back over to me when she needs to go to Kr*ger for "girl stuff".

Here is Tay-Tay on her way to school...


If she were to ride the middle school bus, she would have to get on the bus at 6:27 am. School does not start until 7:30 am so, we thought this was a little extreme (for us and for her). So this is her new bus driver...Isn't he the cutest bus driver you've ever laid eyes on?

The first day went fabulously and to quote Tay, her schedule is "awesome", her teachers are "incredible" and middle school is going to be "great". I've heard all about her locker, locker mate, friends in her class, friends she saw in the hallway, and how one of her teachers was on the Wheel of Fortune (one of our favorite shows to watch together) and the he even was a winner of $4500. Woo-Hoo!!!

And now we are off to Tay-Tay's first middle school social event...I mean, football game, the first of many I'm sure!!! Our friend, Nunnar plays on the team so we've gotta go represent!! Go Hornets!!!

Splish Splash

Splishing and Splashing at Nashville Shores is how Reid decided to celebrate his 8th birthday along with Ryan, Mel, Jenny, Gary, Tay-Tay, Griffin, Dane and his buddy, Jackson. To quote the song - they spent the day a-splishin' and a splashin', reelin' with the feelin', movin' and a groovin', rockin' and a rollin', yeah...we all had too much fun, riding the water slides, swimming and lounging...

Here are the kiddos enjoying a little pool action...

The heat index on Saturday was supposed to be 103 and I don't know if the heat index really got up that high but let's just say that I almost titled this blog "This is why I'm hot!". It was hot but amazingly, we did have a nice breeze coming off of the lake for most of the day. When there wasn't a breeze, we cooled off by hanging out in the baby pool and standing under this giant raining mushroom.
Reid and Jackson are enjoying birthday Dipp*n D*ts...the ice cream of the future! They tried to talk me into letting them eat ice cream at 11ish. Of course, my mommy reaction said no and Reid's agrument...."But Mom, it's my birthday"...Okay, you're right, Daddy, give them some cash so they can go get some ice cream.

Here are Mo and Dane enjoying a little lounge chair time...

Pop - this pic is for you...around 2pm in the afternoon, we all decided to refresh ourselves with an ice cold cherry icee. The taste of an ice cold cherry icee reminds me of driving home from church and stopping at that little gas station in Franklin and Pop buying me, Jenny and Beau a cherry icee, us drinking and spilling them on our church clothes, Bebe threatening that if we spilled any more, that we would never be able to stop and get an icee again, as we jumped the railroad tracks in the cream colored Ford station wagon...Good Times, Good Times!!!

Besides all of the swimming and water slide fun you can have at NS, you can go kayaking. I think Tay-Tay went about 4 times but I missed getting a pic of her somehow. Jenny and Griffin did very well and did not flip their kayak.

Reid intentionally flipped his kayak (several times) just 'cause it was so cool!!! He is posing this "flipping" for me because he caught me with the camera and wanted a pic of him "crashing".

Reid and Jackson are "racing" back to the shore...Reid was behind when I took the pic but the finish was pretty close!

To wrap up this incredibly fun day, the big kids decided to take a ride on the Music City Racer. Yes, it is my favorite ride, and not because it is called the racer, all of the NASCAR references or because it involves a black/white checkered finish. It is just plain fun!!! I rode it 3 or 4 times on Saturday. And just so that you get the entire picture...here is the official description of this ride: The six-lane Music City Racer begins atop a towering, five-story platform. Guests then travel at speeds up to 35 mph on a single raft as they descend down the slide. As riders plunge down the track, they “get air” careening down the 350ft slide. After a ride of more than the length of a football field, the riders coast to a stop at the bottom of the slide.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your mats...Gary is in the far right lane and is in the lead, Ryan is in the left yellow lane with a close second, and poor Jenny in the right yellow lane, is hanging in the rear of the field.

The finish line...

And taking the checkered flag....Gary Hathcock driver of the number #1 yellow mat...

After tons of sun and fun, we headed home. On Sunday, Reid rounded out his birthday weekend with a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings (his birthday request) for lunch. Bebe, Pop, Granny, AG, dog walker Will, and Jon-Jon joined us. His birthday lunch was the Cheeseburger Slammer, Fries and a Coke. Reid racked up with Wi* sports resort, new legos and movies.

He has decided that it is great to be 8!!! Happy 8th Birthday Reid!!!

Life in the Fast Lane

Once again, I will not be posting the "Life in the Fast Lane" by (who does it Bebe - this one is yours) the Eagles, song on the playlist, because in the words of Pastor Chip, "one bad word can ruin a really good song". So you will just have to hum the chorus in your head while you read this.

By now, I'm sure that you've read/heard all about our adventure at the Wildhorse and you know that we headed out to Nashville Superspeedway for some NASCAR Camping World Truck Racing thanks to Stacy Compton and our donation to the Monroe Carroll Jr. hospital. Here are some highlights from the day.

We started the day by stopping at the NASCAR credentials trailer at picked up these...our all access, you can go anywhere you want passes.

When we first arrived, we learned that Stacy (see, now that we are BFF's...I can just call him Stacy) had wrecked his primary truck in practice on Friday. Here are Ryan, Jeff S, and Bob M watching the crew work on the back up truck. Once the truck was ready, we "helped" walk it through race inspection and then walked out on to pit road with the truck for qualifying. Have you ever watched qualifying while sitting on the pit wall? I have now - and it was SA-WEET!!!!


Here are the ladies of Team Black enjoying a little lemonade and hot dog snack while sitting at the back of the hauler. You can't see it in the picture but the doors of the hauler have a "Crew and Invited Guests Only" sign posted. Yep, there we are, the invited guests!!! Side note about Team Black - Mel, Big T, Becky M, Jeff S and Bob M all showed up to the race (without planning it) in black shirts and jeans...Ryan shows up in a red shirt and jeans so for the day we became Red Leader and Team Black as our nicknames.

Here are Billy R and I with the sticker that Big T "helped" to put on the truck. Sure hope those stickers have 200 mile per hour sticky backing.

Terry with a Y (who is Stacy's truck hauler driver, hauler chef, hospitality manager, and gas can man) tells Terri with an I all about filling the gas cans, jumping over the wall with them, how to put gas in the truck during a pit stop, how you weigh the can before and after a pit stop so that you can tell how much gas Stacy is using and his gas mileage...Big T was impressed with his knowledge of all things gas!

And then, of course, the photo op for Big T, Mel and the gas can...

This is Tom Buzze. He is Stacy's crew chief. He is an amazing guy. He is the one who worked everything out for our amazing day!! He was so awesome to me and our NASCAR crazed gang!!

On the left is Sgt. Buzze of the US Army. Sgt. Buzze is Tom's son. The coolest part of our whole day was when the crew lined up on the pit box line for the National Anthem and prayer. Team Black and Red Leader all got to stand in the line with the pit crew. I got to stand right next to Sgt. Buzze and during the National Anthem, he was standing at attention and man, if that doesn't give you goose bumps, and make you proud to be an American, I don't know what will. Sgt. Buzze will be headed back to Afghanistan in March of '10. Please pray for safety for him and all of the soldiers that serve this incredible country!

And after the prayer and National Anthem...here was our view for the dropping of the Green Flag...this pic is actually one lap to go for the green flag...but it was the better of the 2 pics.

When the pit crew guys are not preparing for the next pit stop...you can find them taking a quick break...

Billy, I thought you were a country music singer...but you seem to be discussing the next pit strategy in this pic...
This is the NASCAR computer that keeps the pit crew informed of their "looping" (the technical term for position) around the track. It updates lap number, lap times, speed and position. It looks to me like it is written in Excel...I am an Excel whiz...hhhhmmmmm, maybe my next job can be working with the looping computer with NASCAR....

Our only "rule" during the night was that we had to stand behind the yellow line. This picture was taken to prove that for once in my life, I was following the rules and my SS teacher, Jeff S, was breaking them!!!

And the checkered flag goes to...Ron Hornaday...driver of the #33 truck. This was his 5th win in a row.

Stacy ran a great race, and finished in 15th. We had an amazing time at the races and we sincerely appreciate Stacy Compton and the entire #60 racing team. Thank you for your hospitality and for putting up with 2 crazy racing chicks, 2 husbands that tolerate/love us, and the 2 new guys who we spoiled by taking them to their very first race with garage and pit passes. We lived Life in the Fast Lane and we loved it!!!!!!!

Melissa