Mexican Dinner

We got back home late from our afternoon soccer game up in Dahlonega and decided against grocery shopping or cooking and went straight to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Chloe was having fun wearing Daddy's sunglasses.

And having her picture taken.

And making silly faces.

Owen was being extra sweet and snuggling with Daddy.

Owen did a good job eating his dinner and was allowed to order dessert.  I think he would have stared at it like this until it all melted on the table because he was so pleased to actually get dessert!

He also thought he should just lick it out of the bowl.  Which we quickly put an end to because he is almost eight.  :)

College Soccer

The boyfriend of Todd's cousin Anna was in town with his college soccer team today.  We drove up to Dahlonega to watch Barry University play against North Georgia College.  It was a sunny and hot day, but fast paced watching these college kids run up and down the field.  I don't recall any complaining from the kids about it taking too long or being bored.  :)

The kids had fun running around on the field and kicking Owen's soccer ball before the college guys started playing.

Don't they look small??  The field was humongous!  And the soccer field was drawn out even larger than the football field.

Chloe got tired of standing around on the field and ended up climbing up all the stairs to be my little shadow.

Owen absolutely lives to kick a soccer ball around.  Being on such a big field was a thrill for him!

Here is Anna's boyfriend Daniel.  We were bummed he didn't get to play at all in this game, which is why he is wearing the yellow vest.

How sweet does Chloe look?

Owen took a break from sitting on the railing to stand on his soccer ball while watching the soccer game.

We were all amazed at the athleticism of these guys on the field.  So many headbutts of the balls.  Todd was loving that!

Always love team huddles.

She was so hot that her face turned red and blotchy from the heat.  Poor girl overheats so easily and there never seem to be enough fluids.

After the game, we got to hang out and chat with Daniel for a little while before he had to join his team in the locker room.  We left the game with Todd talking about looking for an adult soccer league to join.  We had soooo much fun watching these college guys play soccer!

Celebrating Grandma Eloise's 92nd Birthday

Even though we were two days ahead of Grandma Eloise's 92nd birthday, we went ahead and celebrated on a Saturday.  We hung out at their house for a little while to take pictures.

She doesn't look 92, does she?

The kids wanted to play a little badminton before we left.

We went out to Red Lobster so Grandma Suzanney could draw on Owen's face. ;)

Grandma just beamed while we sang to her when cake was brought out with a few candles. 

We are so fortunate to have her with us and always in such a good mood.  She has been in and out of the hospital more over the last year with crazy high blood pressure, fast pulse and stomach pains.  Her short-term memory continues to deteriorate.  But she is always smiling and laughing.

Always.

Chloe's Soccer Game

This was the first soccer game of the season in the YMCA league that the kids just joined.  All of Chloe's games are here in our neighborhood at 10:15am every Saturday.  Her team practices for 20 minutes and then plays against another team for the next 40 minutes.  Nice that we don't lose a week night to practice!

They started out stretching and practicing kicking.

They had a team huddle and high fives before the game started.

While Chloe's team was practicing, Owen and Todd had fun kicking the ball around next to the field.  I was loving Owen's crazy hair!

Chloe dragged her feet about going into the game...she was content sitting on my lap.  I was worried this would be a repeat of the fall season at Little River.  But once she got on the field, she did great running around and chasing the ball!

Go Chloe, Go!

Get up, Chloe! This was the first of several falls, but she was quick to get up and keep going each time.  This girl is TOUGH!!

Look at my girl with the wind in her hair.  She's fast :)

And I love the tongue sticking out in concentration, even when she's running.

Chloe was all over the ball throughout most of the game.

This girl played hard and it was evident in her face by the end of the game.  She was over-heated with a splotchy face and weak legs when it came time to walk back to the car.

Chloe's team got beat by seven points, making no goals of their own.  The other team had a star player who scored goal after goal after goal.  Good thing the emphasis is on fun and not points.

 

Once we got to the car, we made a quick trip home for more water and a change of clothes before high-tailing it across town to catch the last 15-20 minutes of Owen's game.

Best Friends

On this Friday evening, Chloe went to Grandma Suzanney's for dinner and to spend the night.  We invited Nico and Gabriel over to our house to play with Owen.  The boys enjoyed chilling out on our bed watching cartoons while we finished up with work and straightening the house downstairs.

Nicolas and Gabriel don't have much time left here in the states before their family moves back to Brazil on October 2nd.  Nicolas has been coming over almost daily now to play with Owen.  The boys enjoyed eating pizza together for dinner.  They played a little bit on the Wii and watched a movie afterwards.

They stayed up late, all three squeezing into Owen's bed.  Sideways.  Owen was in the middle.  There was a lot of giggling and shouts until ten o'clock when I told the boys if I heard another peep I would separate them and they could all sleep in different bedrooms.  I didn't hear another peep.  :)

Today saw a luncheon with folks I have known and worked with for up to twelve and a half years.  They took turns around the table with memories of working with or knowing me.  That was fun, but almost a little like being at my own funeral because how often do people really going around a table talking about you? 

Don talked about my boss Chuck and how he heaped accounts on top of me because I was the one who would get it fixed.  Interesting to find out in hindsight how/why I got so much work.  :)

Lynn is on the left and was the one who hired me at BellSouth over ten years ago.  She went white water rafting with me ten years ago.  The last time I went before last month.  Marcia is on the right and I have known her since the second month of 1998 when we worked at Sprint.  I knew Marcia before I met Todd.  She talked about the sign that was made and hung on the outside of my cubicle at Sprint, designating that space only for Todd and no one else.  Both of these ladies were at our wedding.

Here's my Cas.  Cas is the reason why I started selling beads on Etsy.  She encouraged me to try it and gave me so many pointers and tips.  She has been a wonderful sounding board!  And now two years later, I have had over 500 individual sales on Etsy.  Wow!

Martin has been a friend of the family since I was in elementary school.  He worked with my Mom for years before he hired on at BellSouth like his Mom.  Martin wrote up countless puzzles and mathgrams for me to figure out on my own when I went on vacations as a child.  In my adult life, we have gone family vacations with our own children.  Martin talked about when he was helping me prepare for my first interview at Sprint and towards the end I looked at him and said "Mart, I don't know that I really want this job.  I think maybe I just want to join the Peace Corps."  And then there was silence.  And more silence as he looked at me and I looked back.  I'm sure he wanted to strangle me, but he remained silent.  Until I broke the silence and said "Ok, I'll take the job if it's offered."  And that was the end of that.  I did not join the Peace Corps.  I was offered the job at Sprint.  And I accepted. 

Rob is on the right and makes the best crab boil I've ever tasted.  Must be his Cajun roots!  Rob also spent a few months in the hospital at the end of 2009 with double pneumonia and the H1N1 virus.  He was in a coma for a couple of weeks while his body was healing.  We spent many nights around the dinner table saying prayers for this man and his family.  Now, he is as good as new and only a small tracheotomy scar to show for it.  He will tell anyone it was a miracle that he came back because the odds the doctors put on him coming back were slim to none.  I believe him that it was a miracle.  Faith is a good thing.

Six months later I met and started dating this wonderful man.  We will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary in less than two weeks.

Somehow the camera did not get handed off to take a picture of me with my friend Ozanna.  She took all the above pics with my camera.  Oz could be my second Mom or a close Aunt.  I have worked with her on and off for the past three years, but she gives me grief like no other.  Like we're family.  

Today made me realize how very fortunate I am for having walked into such long lasting friendships and second families through my work.  In a culture where it seems work is absolute drudgery, I am thankful for working with people I consider my extended family.  We have shared in each others' wedding days, births of our children, tears at funerals and birthday parties for our children and each other.