Are you serious?!?

So, if being called a Plain Ol' Woman wasn't bad enough, I was just diagnosed with....drum roll please... Nursemaid's Knee.



Yep, fitting, huh? My knee has been swollen (actually, it got to the point of looking like an egg under my skin - ick!) for a few weeks now, so I decided to get a follow-up check on it. How depressed do you think I was when the doctor just looked at it and said, "Oh, you've got nursemaid's knee. Let me go get my utensils to drain it." Bleck!!! I was sure he was mistaken and it was "Too fit to be 40 knee", but he seemed pretty sure of himself with his diagnosis.

So, a few minutes, a long syringe and a couple of Ace bandages later, I was sent on my merry way. I'm seriously needing an ego boost right about now!!!

Propping up my leg~
Laurie

P.O.W. - no salute necessary

You remember these two cute ones, right?!?

Well, as I always say, you just never know what is gonna come out of their mouths! And depending on what they say, sometimes they get a little cuter and sometimes...well, not so much. This is one of those times.

The other night at dinner, we were having some great conversation . We seem to have really good discussions at the dinner table. So the topic for this dinner was what Lily wanted to be when she grows up. Here's how it goes:

Sam: Lily what are you gonna be when you grow up?

Lily looks off into the distance and thinks about all of the dreamy choices available.

Sam: Lily, I said what are you gonna be when you grow up? Are you gonna be something like a singer, or a doctor or a plain ol' woman (P.O.W.)?

Lily: No, I'm gonna be a rock star!

I must interject, because this is the girl that has yet to really perform in one of her school programs or in her end of session recital in ballet class. So, rock star? I don't know...but, whatever.

So, I have to ask...

Laurie: Sam, what is a plain ol' woman(P.O.W.)?

Sam: You know,Mom, like you!

Lily: Yeah, like you, Mommy!

Ouch...what? I'm a plain ol' woman?!?!!?? This totally takes me by surprise. First of all, I wouldn't say that I am "plain". I mean, I don't have any funky hairstyle or dress majorly hip, but I wouldn't say that I am plain. And "OLD"?!? No way! I'll take this little moment to brag and say that I have surprised many a person when I tell them that I'm 40. And, well, yep I am a "woman" - I'll take that as a compliment!

I just had to do a little search of Mr. Internet for "plain ol' woman" and look what I came up with...

No way, I am no Susan Boyle! I mean, look how trendy I looked at the museum with Sam:

Have you seen Ms. Boyle sport any camo? I don't think so!

I don't think everyone views me as a P.O.W., but just in case, my battle is on. I must change this misconception! How? I don't know, but it will be done.

Diggin' in the closet~
Laurie

Freedom...

Sam's homework for the week included the task of writing a paragraph about what the American flag means to him. Then on Friday, they would turn in their paragraph and wear red, white and blue in remembrance of the Sept. 11th tragedy. As I sat with him to work on the project, I listened to what he said about the flag:

-the 13 stripes stand for the original 13 colonies --- Correct
-the 50 stars stand for the 50 states --- Correct
-it's the symbol for our country --- Correct

All of this was correct, but it's not what I wanted to hear him say. Those were all facts, and I'm impressed that he remembered them, but to me; there is so much more to the meaning of the flag. So, I told him what the flag means to me... freedom to worship our God, freedom to express our feelings, freedom to have an education, freedom to travel, to love, to get active in our communities or, if you choose, to just do nothing. But the common thread is FREEDOM!

How do you teach this to a 7 year old? As I went off on my rant, he just kinda looked at me like I was crazy. I told him about how other countries don't have these freedoms. How, in some countries, children can't play outside because of bombs going off and tanks driving down their street. I told him some children can't go to school and can't say their prayers at night. I still got the crazy stare.

So, I will continue to talk with him about this and hopefully help him in understanding how lucky we are to live in the USA! And today we made sure we took advantage of our freedoms....

*I thanked God for the rain that we have received.
*I prayed for peace for the families of those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks.
*Sam went to school and learned how to spell works such as : meadow, spoiled, copied.
*Lily Clare played outside without the fear of anything!
*I spoke out about my dislike for Obama.
*I drove to Wal-Mart and had the option to buy absolutely anything I wanted ... but I stuck to my list!

Feeling privileged~
Laurie

Oh no he di-int?!?!

Stinky is back and he brought his friend Smelly....

(Here they are pretending like they don't see us shining the flashlight at them, poking them with a broom handle and taking their picture.)


Oh yeah, the war has begun~
Laurie

Dora, Dinosaurs and Possums -- Oh my!

Again, I've been a bad blogger! I just can't seem to get in a schedule. I have lists of things to do, but somehow I've done quite well at avoiding doing them! Does anyone else feel my pain?!?! Well, I'll do better...I promise!

These past few weeks have been fun, even with the back to school blues! But first of all, can I brag a bit?!? You know that video that I submitted to GMA for their "Your Three Words" segment? Well, we made it on! Yep, good ol' Hickory Ridge made it onto national T.V. They didn't let me know that we were going to be on, so I didn't realize it until neighbors started calling and sending emails! How funny is that?!?! Here's the final clip that aired. (I like my songs better, but I knew they would change it.) Watch the commercial first, then we're the last 30 secs of the segment.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerindex?id=8388744


We had a fun family day a couple of weekends ago. Over the summer, John, being the wonderful daddy that he is, bought tickets for he and Lily Clare to see 'Dora Live" at the Fox theatre. Seriously, do you know many dads who would voluntarily choose to sit and watch two hours worth of Dora? Since he and Lily were gonna have a date, I thought Sam and I needed one, too. Off we went to downtown ATL for a fun day.

Sam and I said goodbye to John and Lil at the Fox and we hopped a cab to the Fernbank Museum! Sam's first cab ride and he was ecstatic -- no car seat for him! Unfortunately, he was hoping that we would luck out and get the Cash Cab (he loves that show!), but to no avail. No flashing lights or music went off when we sat down. Our driver, Mohammed, (that is the truth, not a stereotypical example) asked all of the regular cabbie questions ... how long are you staying in Atlanta, where are you from, etc? I think it threw him off when we said we were from Alpharetta and just taking a cab for the fun of it! After I told Mohammad (we got to be on a first name basis) about our family day, he proceeded to tell Sam how lucky he is and how well his parents are taking care of him. Mohammad told Sam that when we get old, he needs to take very good care of us! I like that Mohammad, he's a smart man! So here are some pics from the cab ride and museum:



Our last little bit of excitement happened right here in our own back yard. One night, in getting ready to head up to bed, I heard a little rustling out on the deck. I took a peek out the window and low and behold, there was a nasty possum eating out of Bear's food bowl. Of course, I had to run and get my camera! So, I snuck a few pictures of the ratty creature until he (or she -- didn't get close enough and don't really know how to tell the difference) heard me. After a little zig-zag action, Mr. (or Mrs.) Possum ran down the stairs and what do you think he did...did he run out into the yard, did he climb over the fence? NO, he jumped in the pool!!! GROSS! And in case you are ever asked if a possum can swim, the answer is YES! That scutter swam around looking for a way to get out, but unfortunately never found his exit. He did get sucked into the skimmer and John was able to lift him out with a random stick/possum scooping device and toss him away! He was alive, by the way, so no possums were hurt during this process. Needless to say, double chlorine was added immediately and we hope to never have this happen again!Gross!
Even more gross!
How dare he (or she)?

So, there you have it. "Moore than you want to know", right?!?!

What's next~
Laurie

Rain down on me!

After two summers of drought, this is what happens when we get a rain shower...

Drinking it up~
Laurie

Back to School...

Such an emotional roller coaster that I've been on this past week! On one hand, I hate for the summer to end, on the other, it's nice to get back into a schedule. So, as a tribute, I made a little video to show how the parents in our neighborhood feel.

If any of you watch Good Morning America - Weekend Edition, you may know the "Your Life in Three Words" segment. This is where people make videos about what has happened in their life and convey their message in three words. So, I thought I'd make a little video with my three words "Back to School" and submit it. Wouldn't it be neat to be on GMA?!?!? (Well, I did need to notify the moms so no one showed up in their jammies, as usual, but it went off without a hitch!!!)

So, here is my submission -- please watch it 'til the end!! We hope to see you on ABC!




Good Times~
Laurie