PACKERS!!!

We're going to a Packer game!!! I finally got our tickets and hotel reserved, and even made reservations at the Ruth's Chris steakhouse by the Georgia Dome. So excited that we get to be doing this next weekend, and thankful Mamaw will be watching the kids overnight for us. We rarely get Mommy and Daddy time together, and we're ecstatic to get to do something for the first time together, since neither of us has been to an NFL game before. Can't wait!!

They're Baaaaaaaack!

So Evie and Chase are back to school this morning. Mommy did Evie's hair up again like a princess with her crown, and she took her autograph book filled with photos to show her friends at school. Chase had to stay late after school today to make up his work. Liam stayed home with Mommy this morning, since he is feeling a little under the weather. He must have needed to catch up on his sleep, because he took a 4 1/2 hour nap today. Despite his lengthy nap, I found it still hard to put away all the stuff from our trip and finish all the laundry we'd accumulated. I wish I had taken an extra day off this week, but I am back to work tonight. Bummer.

On The Road Again...

The kids hadn't yet made it to the resort's pool yet, even though we had requested a poolside room. So we wanted to let them squeeze in some swim time before we headed back home. It's a nice pool and I am glad the kids got to have just a little more fun. Evie and Liam even played on the playground there before heading in to shower up.

This statue of Mickey is in the hotel's lobby, and the kids wanted just one more picture before we left.

And we're on the road again. Just can't wait to get back home again. Hee, hee. We made good time, after stopping at Joe's Crab Shack for lunch. We got back home around 8:30pm tonight, just in time to throw the kids in the bed since they are back to school again in the morning.

Our Last Day of Disney, Day #4

Disney's Blizzard Beach waterpark was definitely a nice change from the very hot dry parks. We weren't sure about visiting it, but we were glad we did. It was actually a lot of fun. We caught the bus before Mamaw and Papaw, and floated around the lazy river to pass the time. Their lazy river goes around the whole park and is quite a trek but lots of fun. Liam had fun hanging out on Daddy and never even tried to jump off. After meeting Mamaw and Papaw in the kiddie pool later, we wanted to check out some of the big kid rides.

First, Daddy, Mommy and Chase rode the Slush Gusher. Its a giant waterside that has three good bumps in it. That last bump actually makes you come off the slide. Afterward, Mommy and Daddy went to ride the Summit Plummet, a 120-foot slide that sends you down at 50-60 mph. Mommy almost chickened out, but the very cool ride-tender at the top convinced her to take the plunge, and it was actually a lot of fun. We had lunch at the park and dined on dogs. Of course Daddy had a turkey leg.

Next the kids wanted to hang out in the igloo area with more kid stuff, and Liam discovered his LOVE of water slides. This one actually sends him down pretty quickly, so Daddy stood at the bottom to catch him each time. He could have rode this ride over and over all day long. Evie and Chase had fun tackling the obstacles that sent them climbing across glaciers hanging from ropes, and they both enjoyed flinging from the zip line. We took off for a few more water slides, and Evie loved the mat slides. She and Mommy also got to ride a double-tube together, and then she rode it with Daddy. After some ice cream treats, it was back to the resort for some sprucing up.

We wanted to get to Epcot that night, just to say we had seen all the parks. We had dinner there and then Chase and Mamaw went off to ride the Test Track ride while Mommy searched for Chase's collectable shot glasses and Daddy stood in line for more character signings. This time Evie and Liam met the classics: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. We stayed a little while longer for the fireworks show, but left early to be the first to catch the monorail before the crowds came. We contemplated heading back to the Magic Kingdom since it is open late tonight, but we were all just too exhausted from the last 4 days of fun. It's a little bittersweet that we have to leave all the fun and head back home tomorrow.

You can check out the rest of our Disney pictures at: nicholespictures.shutterfly.com

Disney Day #3

Today we were off to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Who would have thought a place covered by so many trees would be so hot?? It was asweltering jungle for sure. Our tour guide on the safari later would clue us in that the vegetation actually makes this place 5 degrees hotter than the other parks. Evie didn't quite make it past lunch before she had to change out of her non-breathing Rapunzel dress. Mommy had watched the stylist do her hair yesterday so she could copy it and make Evie a princess for a second bonus princess day :).

We checked out a couple animal exhibits, and snapped a couple pictures likethis one of everyone posing as flamingos by the flamingo cage. It didn't take us long to find out what flamingos smell like in 95 degree weather.

Lilo and Stitch are definitely some of our favorite characters. The kids' autographs are filling up quite quickly. After standing in line for this shot we met Mamaw and Papaw for the Lion King show. The kids loved sitting in the lion section and getting to sing and clap along while watching the acrobats do their thing.

Chase got to experience another thrilling coaster at Animal Kingdom. In fact, he experienced it 3 times! Expedition Everest was the ride he'd been looking forward to the whole time we were at Disney. He had watched the You Tube video online and was so excited he was finally going to be able to ride it. Mommy, Daddy and Mamaw loved it too, although Mamaw wasn't sure she would ever ride it again. But she did. The next time, Mommy and Chase sat in the front row seat and Mamaw sat behind us, while Daddy, Evie and Papaw went to catch the afternoon parade (surprisingly not rained out today). The front row is WAY better! At the top you can see all the Disney Parks.

After pizza back at the resort, we headed back to Magic Kingdom that night to watch the nighttime parade. It's the Main Street Electrical Parade and all the floats are lit up with lights. There were tons of people there to see it, and storms were on their way. We fought the crowd to get back to Mission Space so Chase could ride it again. This time Mommy and Chase rode it in the front seat, while everyone else headed toward the Snow White ride. But when Mommy and Chase were done, we found out they had never made it all the way back to Fantasy Land, because the crowd was just too thick around the firework show at Cinderella's Castle. The Graham Fam caught the Laugh Floor Show again, per Evie's demand. She was sooooo sad that her joke wasn't used this time, but I think we were a little late. But Daddy got to be a part of the show, so that was pretty cool. Mamaw and Papaw were tired again, and headed back early. So were we, but the kids insisted on a few more rides. We went to get in line at the Snow White ride after all, but after seeing a picture of the evil witch, Evie changed her mind. We stopped at the Christmas shop to buy some pretty ornaments and Chase, Daddy and Evie went to ride Thunder Mountain one more time before heading back to catch some zs.

You can check out the rest of our Disney pictures at: nicholespictures.shutterfly.com

Disney Day #2

There's an adorable triplet of ducks that live in a pond which is right out the back door of our room, and every morning they come quacking for treats. The kids love getting to feed them Pops and Cheerios, although I am pretty sure those are not part of the official duck diet. They will even eat right out of your hands! This trip has taught Liam to "Quack, Quack!" which sounds a little more like "Quok, "Quok!", but it's very cute.
So we headed to Hollywood Studios today, because we had a reservation there for lunch. But before hitting up the food joints, we wanted to squeeze in a couple thrill-rides. We took Chase on the Tower Of Terror first. He totally screamed like a girl! I tried so hard to get him to put his hands in the air when we were dropping and bouncing 13 stories, but he kept his fists tightly clenched to the handles. At least once he got off he decided it was a pretty awesome ride. Maybe he's coming around! Maybe we'll actually get him on something that goes upside down...

Chase would never willingly hop on a roller coaster that goes upside down. Believe me...I have tried many times. So we had to try to sneak him on one. We told him about the awesome Aerosmith Rock'N Roller Coaster, and just left out the part about it going upside down. But while we were standing in line he read somewhere that it goes upside down. And then came the tears. To make a long story short I, going against my motherly instincts, forced Chase to ride the ride. He wasn't backing out this time. I knew he'd love it if he'd just do it...just once. You can still see the tears in this photo that's taken just as the ride takes off. And guess what! Despite what you may all be thinking right now about my parenting...HE LOVED IT! Thought it was so awesome. Luckily the ride goes upside down in the dark, and he wasn't even sure he had done it. But he had! So glad this is a new thrill I will be able to share with Chase, because he has decided upside-down roller coasters aren't so bad at all.

Next we headed to Hollywood & Vine for our lunch reservation. This was a character lunch with Special Agent Oso, Handy Manny, and June & Leo from the Little Einsteins. Sure...I would have preferred lunch with a few princesses or Mickey & Minnie, but apparently those get booked up pretty far in advance. So we had to settle for this place. But it was actually pretty fun. The kids just loved meeting any characters. And there's singing and dancing while you eat. The food is set up buffet style, but it was a pretty darn good buffet. Everyone loved it. Liam is really crazy for all the people in costumes now. He could barely sit still in his seat, but he did manage to scarf down quiet a bit of spaghetti and a bowl-full of chocolate mousse.

We watched the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show after lunch while the food settled, and then wanted to catch a few more of the rides. Evie, Chase, Mommy, Daddy & Mamaw rode the new Start Wars ride while Liam squeezed in another nap to digest all the sugar. Papaw has been a great babysitter. Evie was so scared of riding the Star Wars ride. When you first walk in, the lines go through interactive areas. The C3PO character reminded her a lot of the alien that scared he yesterday on the Stitch ride. It took a lot of convincing to get her to believe he was a silly, funny robot. But she finally calmed down before we got on the ride. This ride is a simulator and was pretty cool. Again, Evie thought the ride was "AWESOME!"

And of course today's parade was also rained out, just as the Weather Channel had predicted. We didn't stick around today to watch the rainy day substitute, because Chase just had to ride the Rock'N Roller Coaster again and we hadn't planned to stay at Hollywood Studios all day. We had an appointment at Downtown Disney for that evening.

So we headed home and did a quick clean-up before hopping back on the bus to Downtown Disney, narrowly missing our 6pm appointment for Evie at the Bippity Boppity Boutique. We wanted to do it in the salon at Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom, but those appointments also fill pretty quickly. But we just had to do this for Evie. For quite a pretty penny they can turn any young girl into a princess. Of course, it didn't take much to transform ours ;). Evie got to pick out a hairdo, dress, makeup and nail color. And Voilà! Rapunzel she is! Isn't she so sparkly and pretty? She had such a great time getting pampered and dolled up. Definitely worth it.

After trekking it through more rain to have dinner at the House of Blues, Mamaw and Papaw decided to head back and we stayed at Downtown Disney just a little longer. We picked up a few treats at the Candy Cauldron, where Chase had chocolate covered marshmallows, Daddy had a caramel apple and Evie decided on coined princess chocolates. Then we hit up the massive World of Toys store for some stuffed characters and Evie's collectable spoon.

You can check out the rest of our Disney pictures at: nicholespictures.shutterfly.com

Disney Day #1

Today was a wonderful day, despite all the rain that we were not about to let ruin our vacation. After breakfast in our room, we hopped a shuttle bus to the monorail station and opted to take the ferry to Magic Kingdom. The kids enjoyed the short boat ride across the lake.

The first thing we did when we arrived was hop in line to meet some princesses. Evie was able to meet Cinderella, Belle and Aurora and was thrilled! She got their autographs and snapped a couple pictures with them to go in her book. Afterward we met Pluto and Pinnochio outside before deciding we were ready to ride some rides.

We took a train ride around the park first. But our first real ride at the Magic Kingdom was Thunder Mountain. Chase, Mamaw, Ryan, Evie and I all took in the experience while Papaw pushed Liam around in the stroller. We were amazed at how quickly the lines were moving. We didn't have to wait long at all. While we were worried about if Evie would like the roller coaster, she loved a it and told us it was awesome. She also thought the same about Splash Mountain, as you can tell from her face in the pictures.

We had lunch in Frontierville, and the food was not too shabby. Ryan got his have...a giant turkey leg. The kids had sandwiches and I had a taco salad. So much for continuing to Game On! at Disney...I've decided that's completely impossible.

After lunch we headed to Fantasyland to get in some more fun. We rode the Small World ride, one that everyone could enjoy.

We went to watch the parade, which was scheduled to come through at 3pm, but it was delayed due to the rain. It started pouring down at one point, and I stood in the rain to hold our spot while everyone holed up inside a Christmas Disney shop. Hey...I wanted my kids to have front row seats, but I was one of the only idiots out there. Papaw ran across the walk and bought Evie an umbrella so she could wait a little with me too. I even took my tennis shoes off at one point and stole Chase's flip flops so I wouldn't completely soak my shoes. And then of course, the parade was cancelled, but they still have a "Rainy Day Cavalcade" come through so we could have a little fun. The kids loved it.

Next we went back to Fantasyland because the kids wanted to ride the Dumbo ride, but as soon as we got in line they shut it sown because there was lightning in the area and they had to shut down the outside rides for at leas 20 minutes. We decided to watch a 3D at Mickey's Philharmagic show, and Liam thought that was pretty cool. He kept the glasses on for most of the show; my glasses, so I really couldn't see anything. But I had my own fun with him on my lap, just laughing every time he jumped at something coming toward him. I was starting to realize that there was plenty for Liam to enjoy here too!

When we came out of the show, the rides we up again and the kids got their chance. Liam had so much fun in his Dumbo seat with mom, Chase with Mamaw and Evie with Daddy. Liam cried when the ride was over because he didn't want to get off. And when we had to get off the carousel next, he literally screamed bloody murder. He just didn't want all the fun to stop! We rode the tea cups next, But Mamaw and Papaw opted to sit out from the dizzying ride.

Next it was off to Adventureland. We watched the hilarious Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor show. The show is interactive and even one of Evie's got used to her credit when Daddy texted it to their number before the show. I am sure everyone's heard it before: "Why is 6 afraid of 7?"..."Because 7, 8, 9". Ha ha ha! Evie thought that was amazing and she felt very special. Everyone really enjoyed that one. Next, Chase, Evie, Mamaw and Daddy went to ride the Stitch Show and Liam and Mommy rode the People Mover. He loved the ride but refused to sit on Mommy's lap. I swear that is the most independent child I have ever known!

Chase finally got his chance to ride Space Mountain with Mamaw and Daddy, while the rest of us rode the Toy Story ride. We then headed to meet Tinkerbell and Vidia, ride the Magic Carpet Ride, and then the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. All we pretty tired at this point, so Mamaw and Papaw were pretty darn tired, so they headed back to the hotel while the Graham Fam stayed to watched the night time firework show at Cinderella's Castle. Then it was time to hop the monorail and shuttle bus back the the resort for some sleepy day. We still have 3 more days of magic to look forward to...

While I wish I had time to post ALL our pictures to this blog, you'll simply have to settle for visiting our Shutterfly share page: GrahamFamFamilyPictures!

We made it to the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!

So...went to court this morning and was lucky enough to have such a gracious judge drop the speed on my ticket so that the points don't go on my license. Yay! And the best part was that I was out of the courtroom within 15 minutes to get a jump start on our vacay.

We left for our Disney vacation after I picked Evie and Chase up from school around 1130am. A quick trip to the house to throw the rest of our luggage in the car and we were on our way! We stopped at Chick-Fil-A in Valdosta for some lunch and to buy Chase some tennis shoes (forgot to tell him to make sure he packed those!). After we hopped back in the car we clued them in on the big surprise! They were so excited :). I will have to get Ryan to upload the video on here later.

We got to the Shades Of Green resort around 8:00pm, and my parents met us at the front. Their being there was supposed to be another surprise, but the guy at the check-in gate ruined it when he asked if my parents (our "sponsors" since it is a military resort) were already there. He didn't quite understand why I was telling him no but shaking my head yes.

We had dinner at the Italian restaurant at the hotel. Then we headed back to the room to get in a good night's sleep before we hit the parks this morning. Can't wait to share Disney with my kids!!!

And We're Off To...

I am so excited to finally be able to say this on our blog...WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY!!! This is a secret we have kept from our kids for almost a year now (despite my repeated slip-ups!...I still can't believe they don't have a clue). I haven't been able to mention it on our blog because Chase gets the blog. But he's asleep now and won't check his email again before we leave :). We will be telling them tomorrow when we're on our way and we hand these cute little ears we ordered back and tell them to put them on. They're going to be so excited!!! They have only been asking us to take them there for forever. We will drive down tomorrow, visit the parks Thursday-Sunday and drive home Monday. A very sweet friend and her son are being so kind to housesit and watch the pets for us while we're gone. I can't wait! Wish I didn't have to go to Columbus first to court for that ticket :/.

I still plan to update the blog while we're there in order to earn as many Game On! points as I can while I am on vacay because I am sure to screw up the meals part. So stay tuned!

Wish Me Luck!

Back in June I got a speeding ticket for 73 in a 55 in Fort Benning, Ga. It was while my sister, Meghan was visiting and we had been to Calloway Gardens and the Wild Animal Safari in Columbus. We were on our way back home, a little later than we had planned, and we were just leaving Columbus on 82. I thought I was in the 65mph zone and sped on up there, just when my radar detector caught a laser. Busted. I was pulled over by a Ft. Benning military officer. He didn't too much care about the crying baby in the back, because he so kindly handed me a citation before going on his way.

I can take getting in trouble. I can pay a fine. But I really dispise my insurance rates being hiked up for a tiny "mishap". I browsed around online for drivers courses in hopes that being proactive and taking a class prior to court would make me look good in front of the judge and maybe he'd have half a heart to let me off. I called the clerk at the courthouse one day and was told that the judge takes kindly to people showing up and being at the mercy of the court. Hey! I love mercy! He said that unless I was doing something really crazy like going 100mph, he'd probably dropped my speed to 68 in a 55 (14 over is the reportable speed on your license), but that I would probably still have to pay the full $125. I'm game!

So I will be on my merry way to Columbus Wednesday morning to throw myself on the mercy of the court and beg for forgiveness. Wish me luck!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog...we've got exciting news!

On Its Way!

We had Evie in her crib until she was 3+. Hey...it was containment and it worked. Why mess up a good thing? We still used her baby monitor so when she woke up and called for us each morning, we just went up and retrieved her. But the morning we went to welcome Liam into our world Uncle Brandon stayed at our home with Evie and Chase. I guess he wasn't used to having a young one around. She called and called and no one came; and that was the day she decided to break free from her cage.

Evie still stayed in her crib a little longer. For a little while she was too scared to let us take the gate off to make it more like a day bed. I had actually gotten it off once but she made me put it back on. Maybe a week or so later she let me take it off. But then one day I asked her if she wanted to just sleep in the guest room, and she's been in there ever since. Who wouldn't chose the queen pillowtop over a crib?

I had been dragging my feet on ordering new "big girl" furniture for her room. It takes me forever to make decisions. But one day this July, a full year after she'd outgrown the crib, I went and had it ordered. Beautiful antique white furniture. I was so happy with the decision and so very excited.

And then I got the phone call from Bob the salesman. They had discontinued the color I had fallen in love with. What? I'd have to make another decision? Uh! Did Bob not understand how long it had taken me to decide on that furniture in the first place. So let's just say it took me another 6 weeks to chose another color. I dwelled and dwelled on it. I asked advice from everyone I knew. And in the end, I am not nearly as happy as I had been before.

But Evie is. Maybe it was fate. She got the pink furniture she'd wanted all along. Let's just hope she still wants pink furniture in a few years....

Here are some pictures of the furniture. We orderd the full-size poster bed, dresser & mirror, and the desk, hutch & chair; all in pink. Can't wait to get it so I can get to work on the room and show more pics of the finished project (and more importantly...get this checked off my never-ending list of things I have to do :)!

Go Packers!

Had to share this pic of our beautiful Evie and her even more beautiful new Packer bow...courtesy of Mommy! Ok, maybe Evie is a little more beautiful, but I am getting kinda good at this bow thing, huh? I love being able to just whip up a bow to celebrate any occasion or team or match any outfit. Can't believe I let this girl go 4 years without really wearing many bows!

Game On! Update

Celebrating my day off with a Game On! update post. I was terrified of jumping on the scale today. Yesterday we had an ice cream social for one of the girl's I worked with's last night in our NICU. I just had to partake! My waffle bowl of birthday cake ice cream, marshmallow cream, strawberries, chocolate, walnuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top (of course!) had me feeling like I might have been in trouble. Oh...and I forgot the macadamia nut cookie! Yesterday I still had another 0.2 to go to make weight.But I made it! And then some. I lost a total 2.2 pounds this week (my goal each week is 1.4).

I finished out last week with a score of 834.4 out of a possible 850. Our team scores were averaged and we scored a 779. Go Dieting Divas! Last week I lost 1.6 pounds, so I barely scathed by. If you're keeping track, I am down 3.8 for my first 2 weeks of Game On!

My score won't be quite so grand this week. I lost 6 points Monday for forgetting to eat my 4th meal on time, and another 20 Wednesday night for not exercising. Those exercising points really add up! It's about time I get off my butt and do today's exercise. Today is my day off, but I already took my day off exercising on Monday & lost the points Wednesday so I have to today or I will lose another 20.

I thought the ice cream party would cost me 6 meal points last night, and then I forgot my last meal at the end of my shift. And then I realized I hadn't posted my blog last night. But someone myst have been graciously looking out for me! The ice cream and missed meal were after midnight, so technically on my day off! And if I post my blog today, yesterday could be my day off from my healthy goal. So I am not in as bad of shape as I thought.

I think I will go celebrate with some margaritas with the girls tonight...

Evie and The Pests (OK! I mean pets!)

Evie had a fun project to do this weekend. She got to take a picture of herself and a pet to tell her class about. Instead of one pet, we did all 3. We had a photo collage made up and printed so she could show them all off. The kids love these pets.

We got Fiona, our English Bulldog from a breeder in Alabama in December 2008. She and Chase have been best friends from the start. She is very good with the kids and tolerates a lot. She does have her chewing moments, and that drives me insane. Last week she ate a pair of Liam's sunglasses (not that he wore them anyway) and she has become particularly fond of a stuffed giraffe rocker in the living room. Ryan told me just last night that he was going to take it out the trash, but I said no because she'll just move on to something new. Might as well let her finish off what she started! We chose Fiona's name came because Ryan's bulldog, Belle, who he left with his parents when he moved to Georgia, was name after the Disney princess. He really wanted to keep that going, and Fiona was a fitting name for a bulldog.

Jujubee, Evie's kitten, is a white mutt-kitten we picked up from what we found out later must have been a flea-infested bug-dungeon. No sooner than we had gotten in the car I spotted a tiny black demon. I would have left her there if I had known just how many were covering her tiny white body! We immediately made a beeline for the nearest store to stock up of flea-murder in bottles and a couple baths and treatments later...problem solved! Jujubee is the world most psychotic cat (although I am sure many would beg to differ). She is often found leaping through the house up door frames and into walls. Jujubee was named by Evie. She had been naming everything, living and not, Jujubee for quite awhile. She wanted Jujubee to be our Elf On The Shelf's name, but she lost to Chase's pick Bob. The name came from the Elf On The Shelf book and she had been begging for a kitty to call Jujubee for quite some time. She finally wore us down!

Raspberry (or should I say Raspberry #3...but don't tell Evie!) was a present for Evie's 4th birthday. She had been asking for one for while so we surprised her that day. She was so excited. I don't really know where the name came from. I remember we had been talking about raspberries the morning I took her took pick out her fish, but I can't remember why. She is very good at helping feed her fish every morning and every night. A cute story about Raspberry is, after the passing of Raspberry #1, Evie noticed her fish (the new fish) had white on her belly (Ryan didn't really pick out an exact match). Evie doesn't miss a thing and questioned Daddy the second she laid eyes on it. My quick-thinking husband told her Raspberry was just getting older, which Evie was so proud to run out and yell down the stairs to me. Crisis averted! Raspberry is the perfect pet, and if we had to choose just one, she'd be it!

Liam Say's "Mmmmmmm!"

This boy can eeeeeeeeat! I mean...really eat. Don't get me wrong. He's still a pretty picky eater. There are days when I can barely get him to take a bite of anything. But give him the right food at the right time, and he will singlehandedly eat you out of house and home. Take this ice cream sandwich, for instance. Before I could even see this pic on my viewfinder...it was gone! Just like that! Well not quite, but you get the picture. He had already had his usual after school Cheerios on the way home from school this afternoon (pick him up without them and you're in real trouble) but really showed his jealousy of the big kids and their ice cream. Mom's not real good at saying no to Liam yet, so of course I gave in. To tell you the truth, he didn't have to try all that hard :). The full-size sandwich was gone before I knew what had happened.

He's not your typical 1-year-old. At least, he's not like my other kids were. His favorite food is probably baked beans. He loves them. But Chase and Evie won't touch them. He won't touch anything green...except zucchini. He likes to finish off all the zucchini from my hibachi take out. But he won't let a pea or green bean within 10 feet of him. Hates chicken nuggets (unless they're from Chick-Fil-A), but loves bratwurst. You might find one thing he scarfs down one day but finds absolutely disgusting the next. I have learned not to really worry when he won't eat much one day. He will definitely make up for it tomorrow!

My brain is fried. What was supposed to be a day in my office turned into an even longer day in the unit. But I can't complain. I love my job!

Regardless, however, after finishing up homework when I got home I am in now shape to communicate, so instead, please enjoy browsing some pics of my crafts over the last couple months :).

Remembering 9/11

It's been 10 years today and my jaw still drops to the floor and my eyes instantly fill with tears when I hear the stories of so many people that lost their lives that day and the families that love and miss them.

Dateline aired a story of remembrance this past Friday. I started watching it with Ryan and a little way in wanted Chase to come down and watch it with us. This is something that he doesn't remember happening. He was only 1 at

the time. But this is a story he should know. He too should remember the lives lost and the sacrifices made.

When I asked Chase if he knew what I meant when I talked about the World Trade Center he said no. When I asked him if he knew what 9/11 meant he initially said no. But then he started to remember. He asked "Is that when those planes flew into those buildings"? He has learned some about that day in school, but his heart has yet to feel the pain of that day like so many of us have. But I know one day he will understand it as we do.

9/11 is more than when planes flew into a building. It marks a day in history none of us will ever forget. 2819 people lost their lives that day. So many, many more lost their loved ones. Our nation lost part of our family. It breaks my heart just thinking about it. Each family has their own story of their own personal tragedy surrounding that

day. It is not hard to find these stories amongst the many books, TV shows, and movies that stem from the attacks. But so many people have yet to tell their story. That is why it important to remember.

I hope and pray that nothing like this ever

happens again. But it does. We still have soldiers who lose their lives fighting overseas to prevent something like this from happening to us again. They fight for us like all the civil service workers fought to help the people who were trapped on our own soil that day. The fight will never be over because, thankfully, we will always have men and women willing to sacrifice their freedom, their lives, to protect those of us too scared or unwilling to do it ourselves.

To all these people. To the men and women who fought for our lives so many years ago, those who fought on 9/11, those who fight today, and those who will fight tomorrow...I will remember, forever. Thank you so much for all that you have given and continue to give for my freedom and the freedom of the ones I love.

Here is a link that gives some insight into just how much we lost that day: http://nymag.com/news/articles/wtc/1year/numbers.htm

Evie & The PreK

So we've heard about Chase. How's Evie?

Evie started PreK at Lee County PreK this year. Here wonderful Daddy waited all night in line in March, in the freezing cold mind you, to reserve his little girl's spot in the program. This is the case every year in Lee County, as there are usually never enough spots.

I remember when I went to sign Chase up for the program when he was 4. The sign said 8am, so there I was at 8am. I thought it odd to find so many lawn chairs parked outside the building. But no people outside. Surely people had been sitting outside waiting for registration to begin. I found out they had. There we only 70 spots for our zone that year. Thank goodness, despite my sleeping in the own, warm bed the previous night, Chase was registered in slot 63.

This year there were 110+ spots for our zone (there are two zones...East and West). I was there at the board of education at 3pm the day before registration, to save Ryan's spot for the night. When I arrived, the line was more than 30 deep. But we knew E was in. To be honest, she would have been in regardless of whether we had camped out or not. Ryan arrived around 530pm and we swapped kids. We went and got Daddy dinner, had a picnic with him, and went off to sleep at home without Ryan. He didn't get much sleep that night. It was very cold and uncomfortable. We met him back at the BOE the next morning to sign Evie up. We found out later that day that they hadn't filled all the spots. We're ok with that. As soon as we'd decided not to camp out we would have missed our chance.

I've drifted a little from the topic. We had hoped to have Mrs. McConnell, Chase's kindergarten teacher, as she had moved to the PreK. We were sad to find out she was only taking West Zone and we're East (they try to keep the kids together because they'll split schools next year). Total bummer...she was such a wonderful teacher for Chase. Evie is in Mrs. Pearce's class, however, and so far, so good. We like her a lot, and so does Evie. Her paraprofessional, Ms. Mitchell, is very nice, too.

Evie enjoys taking her lunch every day. She started out in the after school program, but that only lasted a week before we decided it wasn't for us. It's a mix of 200 4-11 year olds and very chaotic. Evie wasn't happy there. So she is riding the bus home now and loves it.

Mrs. Pearce loves bumblebees, and the room is covered in them. Each day Evie brings home a stamped paper with a bumblebee which means she didn't get in trouble. She's gotten a bumblebee every single day :). 2 weeks ago was her turn to bring home Bee. Bee is a bear who gets to travel home with a little girl form her class each week (the boys get to take home Bumble). She was so excited! She had lots of fun with Bee and we took pictures to send to school with her to show all her friends.

Inevitable Detention

While signing Chase's planner tonight, I commented on how proud I was that his disciplinary sheet remains empty...a whole 4 weeks into his first year at Lee County Middle School. Go Chase!

So he was telling me that he got to choose a prize for remaining "discipline free". His choices were:
1. A "Hat Pass": He could wear a hat to school on the day of his choosing.
2. An "iPod Pass": He could bring his iPod to school one day to listen to his tunes at lunch.
3. An "Outside Pass": He could spend a lunch break outside.
4. A "Detention Pass": He could receive a pass to bail on detention at any one point this school year.

I find it incredibly ironic that one of your choices for a reward for staying out of trouble is a pass to get out of being in trouble in the future. And what did my son choose? The "Detention Pass". I guess he thinks he just can't keep this up forever :).

But we are very proud of Chase. He is really enjoying his new school. I was very worried about how Chase would transition to being the little fish in a great big pond. He went from a school of 700 to a school of 1200. He is changing classes now. He was changing classes in elementary school, but he changed with his whole class. This year he is on his own, as each kid in his class goes their own way to each class. But he is loving it all. He especially loves his Keyboarding class and is always wanting to show us how fast he can type (which I think is pretty darn fast for an eleven-year-old). I spoke with his teacher last week, just to check in and see how he is doing and she said she is transitioning well. Ahhhh...I can breathe again.

On a Game On! side note...my 2nd perfect day of the game. Go Dieting Divas!

Stupid Scale!

So Day #3 of the Game On! Diet and I have only had 1 perfect day...yesterday. Why was today not so perfect? Because I broke a rule. A minuscule rule, but a rule nonetheless.

When reading the book and the rule about not weighing yourself more than once in one day I thought, "who would weigh themselves more than once in a day?" Well, I would. I know this because I did it, just today.

The game requires you weigh yourself once a week, on the morning of your day off. But it recommends you weigh yourself daily because studies show that dieters who weigh themselves daily lose twice the weight compared to dieters who weigh themselves weekly. Interesting. So I chose to go the daily route.

The book discourages weighing yourself more than once a day to avoid the obsession with the scale. Some people (obviously people like me), tend to obsess over details like "how much do I weigh at this time of day" and "how much will I weigh after I pee". I would lie and say I wasn't the "obsessive" type, but I am. I am that person who obsesses over the details. Resultantly, I lost 1 of my possible 100 point today. Bummer.

On the bright side...I've lost 2 pounds since starting the diet Monday and am now down to 138.6. :)

GAME ON!...The 1st Day Recap

Since I am working nights this week and haven't really seen my kids enough to have much to say about them, I figured today's post could be purely Game On! related, and I'll do a recap of Day #1.

You would think the beginning of the competition would be the easiest, and that it'd be no arduous feat to score a perfect score on your first day. Sadly, this was not the case for me. But let me explain!...because surely I have an explanation.

While a perfect score is 100 for any given day, I only made a 94 on Day #1. I lost 6 meal points. Day #1 also happened to be my start of 3 night shifts this week and I made an error in planning my meals. I was trying to think of the best way to squeeze in 5 meals and all the sleep I needed to get back on a night shift rotation. I woke at 10:30am, prepped some meals and at 11:30am ate my first meal: Scrambled eggs (3 whites, 1 yolk) atop a slice of whole wheat toast. Very yummy. I laid back down for a nap at 2:30pm, and didn't think I needed another meal before then because it was only 3 hours since the last meal. In fact, when my husband came in and said "Don't you need to eat again", I explained that I didn't. Poor planning on my part.

During the day I was trying to think what my "day" needed to be when I was working night shift. In the end, the best thing I could come up with was to always have my days run midnight to midnight. Hence, I missed a meal. I ate another meal before work around 5pm (1/2 a grilled chicken breast, 1/2 slice of cheese wrapped with spinach and olive oil inside a whole wheat tortilla). At 7:45p I had meal #3 (two hard boiled egg whites and 1 yolk with a peach) and dinner at 10:45p was brown rice stir-fry with scrambled egg whites, cabbage, zucchini, broccoli and olive oil. If you're keeping track, that makes 4 meals for the day. Not 5. Darn! My first failure!

The rest of my points were much easier to come by. I got in my 3 liters of water much easier than I had thought it would be. I took a break after dinner and walked the stairs for 20 minutes to get in my exercise before midnight (but 4 1/2 trips up and down the stairs had me sweating far more than I would have liked when I had to go back to work). I had already done my blog post and communication and I survived the day with not a drop of Red Bull.

So, I will still count Day #1 as a success, even though it was not a perfect success. The lapses in judgement are supposed to teach you, as they taught me. Today will be a perfect day. And hopefully, so will every other day too :).

GAME ON!

So for those of you who have never heard of the Game On! diet, I would encourage you to visit www.gameonediet.com and check it out. A group of us girls at work have just started up our first game. I am very excited about learning to live healthier and getting to have a ton of fun in the meantime.

So what does this mean for the rest of you? More Graham Fam! The game challenges you to lose one unhealthy habit (which for me will be my very unhealthy habit of a daily Red Bull) and gain one new healthy habit. My healthy habit, lucky for you, will be to post one new blog post each day(which counts as journaling). I will be posting daily about both the Graham Fam and my Game On! challenges.

Yesterday was my last day of "freedom" before beginning healthier living, and I did it up nice. We met our friends, the Brinsons from Savannah, at Wild

Adventures in Valdosta for some fun with our 5 kids, plus their 11-year-old cousin. I celebrated with TWO Red Bulls yesterday. I had a couple slices of pizza and far too much soda (since I rarely drink it anymore anyway) at the park. Luckily the rain held off until after 6:30pm last night, but then it moved in full force. We were already headed to the car, having seen the very black clouds rolling in and fearing a torrential downpour. We were less than halfway to the car when the bottom dropped out. But I think the kids had a really great time running through the rain and my last couple weeks of intermittent 5k training really paid off! We met the Brinsons at Texas Roadhouse where I enjoyed a couple rolls, some cheese fries, a few more Cokes, 1/2 a cheesy hamburger and a sweet potato. Farewell evil food! See you next month(maybe...). The best part of the day was snapping a good pic of all 3 of my kids together...a VERY rare event indeed!

As for Game On! I woke up this morning, weighed in (and as reluctant as I am to share, I will: 140.6), finalized my habits with

the help of my husband, and began cooking. I am cooking some meals for the next couple days, since I am on nights for the next 3 days. Right now I am working on a healthy stir-fry of brown rice, cabbage, zucchini, and broccoli. When I get it on the stove I will throw in some egg whites for protein and EVOO for a healthy fat. For breakfast I whipped up 3 egg whites and one yolk for scrambled eggs to top off a piece of whole wheat toast. Very good, I must say. Game On! girls! Go Dieting Divas (our team name. My teammates are some great girls forms work: Misti, Amy and Anne).