Let's GO Mountaineers!

Ah football season....the beginning of early tailgating, good food, good friends, good fun. This year we kicked off another great season in a new tailgate location. I think this spot will suit us well. We now have 4 families consistently coming (Beans, Doolittles, Robinsons, and Tenneys) with may others stopping by to join in the fun.

The game was awesome, just as we expected. The stadium was packed. The band was on cue (except for a slight glitch during the Star Spangled Banner) and did a great Armed Forces tribute during half time. Morgan was very pleasant, sleeping through the first quarter and being very patient until the end of the game.

The Mountaineers finished with a decisive win over Villanova. Our rivals Pitt, Virginia Tech, and Michigan all lost. What a great day for Mountaineer Football!

Fan from the beginning

First Football Season

9 weeks old

WVU vs. Marshall


Second Football Season
14 months old
WVU vs. Western Michigan


Third Football Season
26 months old
WVU vs. Villanova

Gone, but not forgotten

We woke up Saturday morning to a gorgeous blue sky, light breeze, and great temperature. All was right in the world until I walked outside. It was then I noticed that someone STOLE our WVU flag, where it had been proudly flying ON OUR PORCH for the past two years.

Yes folks, even in Small Town USA crime still occurs. It's amazing how bold someone was to walk up to our porch and take the flag out of its holder. Mind you, this was not a little flag. It was roughly equal to our American flag flying on the other corner of the porch. Not to mention that my husband swears our house is lit up like Fort Knox at night. I honestly don't know when it actually happened, it was just Saturday that I noticed it was gone.

If someone in PA is trying to squash our pride in WVU, you have not succeeded! We are very PROUD Mountaineers, and will one day replace that flag with a bigger one! And if you are one of Patrick's bone-head friends and you took the flag as a prank, kindly return it at your convenience. I promise if it is returned soon you will be spared the wrath of a fiesty, hard-headed Italian. If not cousin Guido may be looking for you. Better watch your back!

Are you ready for some (fantasy) football???

Today was the first of two fantasy football drafts for both myself and Patrick. We did a live draft today, which is always a lot of fun. Last year my team didn't do too well in this league, but I did have Tom Brady, who I kept from last year. Hopefully with his arm and some good running of Willie Parker, Earnest Graham, and the return of Antonio Gates I will have a good season.

Draft Central

The Commissioner (hard at work)

Lots of strategy involved...

We will kick off college football this weekend with the first WVU home game. We are looking forward to a bonfire on Friday, tailgating on Saturday, and of course the game.

Labor Day we will do an online draft for Patrick's work league. I am the league CHAMPION of that league, and therefore will be drafting last (sigh). Even if I have a bad year, I can always say I beat all the men at FF one year!

Mother's Life Lessons #672 and #673

Over the past week I have learned two very valuable mothering lessons that I thought I would share for any mothers who have not learned these rules yet.

Lesson #672--Remember to put sunscreen on you BEFORE you put it on your toddler, who will want to run immediately into the very cool baby pool/play place. This lesson was extremely painful to learn after 2 1/2 hours of fun in the pool I emerged with a sun burn SO BAD I am sure it was sun poisoning. I never went to the doctor (although everyone said I should) but was nauseous for 2 days and could not wear a THING without it being excruciatingly painful. That was last Thursday. If you can imagine the color of a clown's nose, or lobster, or cherry tomato, you can imagine the current color (still) of my shoulders and legs. My back has faded and subsequently started to peel. According to my husband the coolest part of the sunburn is getting to peel the skin. I hardly agree, but let him indulge in his 3 minutes of fun peeling my back skin (ewwww...) I should have thought about this lesson since we had just recently returned from an air trip to CT and we were dutifully instructed, if air masks should fall, to place ours on BEFORE helping Morgan. Apparently the same concept applys for sunscreen application.

Lesson #673---it is not advisable to place your toddler in the tub directly after dinner. This is especially not advisable if your toddler has yet to have a bowel movement during the day. Needless to say, I now have to add bleach and scrub the tub and tub toys to my list of chores for the evening. If you require further explanation about this lesson, feel free to contact me.

My hope in sharing these lessons is that other mothers will be spared learning these lessons the hard way. Have a nice evening!

30 by 30

Today officially marks 7 months before my 30th birthday. After dealing with a lot of medical problems over the past 2 years, I am finally ready to be serious again about losing weight. My goal is to lose 30 pounds by the time I am 30. Today is the start. I am looking forward to posting my progress on the 11th of every month. Please pray for me, as this is certainly not an easy task. It's achieveable, but I know I will struggle.

Pounds to go: 30

Months to go: 7

Weekend in Connecticut

Last weekend Morgan, Patrick and I jetted off to Connecticut to attend the wedding of a long time family friend. It was a very short trip (Aug 1-4) but we sure did get a lot of things in while we had the opportunity to be with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law.



Morgan was supposed to be the flower girl in the wedding. She looked adorable. She liked holding her basket and playing with the petals. However, when it was time for her to walk down the aisle, she wouldn't go! She is going through a very shy phase right now and saw lots of people she didn't know and wouldn't let go of my leg! She wouldn't even walk with my mom, who was the Matron of Honor at the wedding. I ended up carrying her down the aisle while she held her hands over her face! She wouldn't even throw petals until AFTER the ceremony when she found it great fun to throw the petals at the bride and other wedding party members. Thankfully she also thought it was great fun to pick up all the petals and put them back in her basket.





She did have a great time in the limo, which I let her ride in sans carseat and she loved the lights on the ceiling, being able to wear a big girl's seat belt (and insisting that Mama put hers on too...). Overall, for being 2, she did a great job and was very pleasant.

While we were in CT we also got the opportunity to visit a local aquarium. This was Morgan's first trip to the aquarium. We had lots of fun watching the sea lions and penguins. I touched a sting ray. We saw a 700 pound sea lion slide merely feet away from us on the concrete across part of the auditorium, outside of the pool (it was part of the show, so don't panic). And of course, because of Morgan's infatuation with Finding Nemo, we had to locate Nemo and Dory in the indoor aquarium.






It was a super quick trip, but lots of fun. We were all exhausted when we got home, but it was worth it.

Three Things I Like

My friend Catherine posted about three things she likes and asked her readers to tell her what they like. I have decided to copy her and share three things I like here (to give you all something to read).

1) Carnations--very simple, inexpensive flowers that can be dyed any color and last forever.



2) Bluetooth technology--it's great to be totally hands free at work, in the car, and at home. I don't get the pains in my neck anymore from holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder, and I can multi-task a lot easier.



3) Baby wipes--they have way more uses than one would think! They will take most food stains out of clothing (if the stain is fresh), will get bugs off a car bumper, great for faces, bottoms, hands, feet, and all points in between.