30 minutes in the life of...

Starts out as......Kobe staring at neighbor cleaning screens, said neighbor walks over and offers blow-up pumpkin decoration for my yard (this should have tipped me off), Jennifer works, slaves, fights with said blow-up pumpkin 'witch' in my front yard.  Kids 'help' by leaving socks, flip flops, toys in my direct way, Jen fights with extension cords and tie down stakes.  Kids bring Kobe out, Kobe tries to eat metal stakes, Jen trips over flip flop and Kobe.  Kids hop on scooters and plasma car, Kobe chases after them into the street.  Jen runs in to grab leash (thanks kids), ties Kobe to railing, trips over Kobe, kids disappear down the road...don't worry, they'll come back...with soiled socks since they've tossed their shoes.  Jen plugs in blow-up pumpkin, pumpkin (which is now staked down) is facing the wrong way.  Crikey! Jen corrects the problem, thinks to herself, "hmm, I could use a drink".  Jen walks in house to get a timer.  Timer has battery leak, so it doesn't work, Jen writes 'timer' on her Target list.  Jen pours a glass of wine from an opened bottle, wine is gross (typical).  I'm starting to get winded at this point, but I have to finish.  Jen goes back out to clean up.  BIG dog, Jake, next door has escaped and neighbor is running after him.  Jen thinks, 'hmm, Kobe is tied down and is approximately 7 times smaller than Jake, I should take him in.  Jen spies a hawk flying ahead, circling....what is it with this dog?!  Protect the dog!!  Jen isn't wearing shoes either (wonder where the kids get it) and scrapes her big toe across the concrete.  Goodbye beautiful pedicure and part of my toe nail.  Kids have disappeared again, Jen walks Kobe down to pool to check on them.  Zach is 'training' Olivia to race and has a race track drawn in chalk on the concrete.  Kobe poops in the green space and Jen doesn't have a poop bag.  Jen walks back to house to get poop bag, runs into neighbors who give me one.  Finally everyone heads home to bed.  Olivia forgets to close garage door, Jen forget to double check, garage door is open all night....Dave is out of town.  Yes, this is more than 30 minutes...


Jen wakes up to garage door open, takes Kobe out to pee, which he does, then he proceeds to go upstairs to Zach's room and poop (in 3 wet and messy spots).  Ahhh and another day has begun.  But the blow up pumpkin is cute :-)

Dad's 70th birthday and much more

How is it that you can turn 70 and no one serves you cake?  That's what happened to my dad on October 5th.  Yes, he turned the big 70 and he was big enough to not ask for the cake.  Even though, we all know he loves my mom's German Chocolate cake and her Coconut Cake.  Poor thing, he's watching his diet and good for him!  We celebrated his birthday at our huge Patterson family reunion with a potluck.  After all of that food, he didn't need cake!  What better way to celebrate, than have your brother from Oregon join you?  My dad and Uncle Ronnie are best friends, so they look forward to their (hopeful) annual visit as soon as the last visit ends.  My dad is the true gambler with the Hard Rock shirt on, but they both take the cake when it come to being funny!  Take a look at that huge family; that's what you get when your great-grandparents have a bunch of kids!  We've always had fun together and the tradition continues.

I'm a bit behind in activities, so I'll catch up quickly....

Happy Birthday to Nonnie (aka Joan Pryor) on October 5th as well.  Dave's mom and my dad share a birthday.
Zach was psyched about the Petit Le Man at Road Atlanta that weekend as well.  We were there all day Saturday (first weekend in October).

He got a boost and help with the pedals on the Xbox game from our favorite, Hurley Haywood.  

Dave is prepping to race with Hurley Halloween weekend in the Cayman Series, so stay tuned for updates on that one!

Let's not forget about baseball...this is our first year with Smyrna Little League and it is so much fun.  The season will be over Halloween weekend.  The pitching machine is hard to get used to, but the kids are enjoying themselves, so hopefully we'll play this coming spring as well.

This past weekend was busy, busy, busy, and I have lots of photos to share....later. So now I'm only one week behind.  Eh, not so bad.

Tim McGraw and Nashville dinner

Before I forget....Dave and I had the chance to head up to Nashville for the night on Sept. 29th for an event featuring chef Tim Love and music by Tim McGraw.  Tim Love is a wonderful chef and hey, who doesn't love a good meal?  Wine pairings were served - way too many wine servings.  Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were both supposed to entertain, but they had just returned from Australia and we were told that she wanted to put the kids to bed.  Sweet.  The chef and Tim McGraw shopped the local markets for ingredients for the meal.  We do not know many country songs, but with only 70 people in attendance in the small Union Station venue, it was a truly great experience.  I apologize for the crappy photo, but I realized our camera was no longer working at the dinner.  Thanks iPhone camera for coming through!  McGraw is in the middle (no hat...WITH hair!)  The wine guy is wearing the hat.

Fall 'crazy' Break and beyond

When Fall Break came around, I was more than happy to take a break from the routine of school, activities, cooking and homework.  We had Dave for a full week, no interruptions.  It was bliss for the most part while we had a quiet few days at the lake with our puppy, who now loves the beaches and boat.  We also stopped by Auburn the day after a big win to witness Toomer's Corner and the TP celebration.  Kobe and the kids did not know what to think of it.  Of course, they soon found the entire mess tons of fun.

The latter part of the week, we flew to upstate New York to visit Dave's mom and family.  Unfortunately, Dave's 92 year old grandmother, Nan, passed away while we were there.  Ninety-two is amazing age for anyone, and Nan is in a much better place.  

The Adirondacks were in full color.  This is the first that Olivia and Zach have seen (or remember) of this area of the country. Olivia was three months old for her only trip to Nonnie's.  What a wonderful time to visit!  We missed a photo with Dave's cousin, Sue and her daughter, Katelyn, who turned 16 while we were there.  Happy 16th to you!  This is Dave's other cousin, Larry and his wife, Denise and daughter, Danielle.  

Dave and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on Sept. 22.  Dave surprised me with a trip north of his mom's and we stayed at a B&B, called Inn by the Mill.  The Inn is historic for being a stopping point in the Underground Railroad.  The innkeeper was an interesting character, to say the least.  He didn't let us get a word in edgewise, so we did say the least!  The Hog Haus, seriously, it housed several hogs during the day, was our room for the night.  It was overflowing with hog decorations.  Where do you find all of that stuff, anyway?

Dinner was at Beardsley Castle, which is said to be haunted.  Check it out during Halloween on the Sci-Fi channel.  They will be airing a special on the castle.  We didn't witness any ghosts, but we did put back a nice dirty martini in the dungeon bar.  Guess what?!  They had gluten free appetizer bread for me and it was wonderful!  The food was fabulous and the castle is in a beautiful part of the country.  We finished our trip off with a hike up the rocky riverbed the next morning.  It was a slippery, but we love a good hike anytime. Happy 9th Anniversary to us!

Dave and I took the kids to the Utica zoo.  This zoo has been around for a VERY long time, witnessed by the surroundings, but we all has so much fun.  We will all remember the little fox named Sherlock.  He reminded us of Kobe.  

After delayed flights from NY and a late night/early morning arrival, we settled back in.  Gavin's 6th birthday party beckoned us out of the house to celebrate.  It was rainy, but I don't think any of the kids cared.  They had a silly string fight, watched a movie, decorated cupcakes and ate lots and lots of candy.  Olivia was so pooped after the party, she passed out with a lollipop in her mouth.  Cavities anyone?

It was nice to be back home, and made me appreciate 'routine' a little more.  

Ode to my 7-year old, Olivia

It doesn't sink in right away.  You are basking in the glow of a newborn; you are feeding burping, changing.  You are holding hands as she toddles, wiping faces, giving baths, reading stories.  You plan birthday parties, celebrate and make cakes.  It took me a few days on this one, but it has finally hit home.  My daughter is seven.  Olivia turned seven on September 18th and Dave and I celebrate our anniversary on September 22nd.  Olivia arrived 3 weeks early, so she became our anniversary present to each other.  What else were we going to do?  During those days, work consumed every bit of our extra energy, so anniversary presents were a brief thought.  We gave each other a doozie on that anniversary!  Olivia has been one to keep us on our toes.  As I type, she is watching bats on the Discovery Channel.  She examines our new puppy, Kobe daily.  Poor dog, he hasn't visited the vet yet, but no worries, he has Olivia.  She wants us to admit that Kobe is her dog.  We say he is 'the family's dog'.  Not good enough for her.  She catches fish with her net at the lake and again, examines each and every one of them.  Hmm, I wonder if she will enjoy dissecting animals in biology or zoology?  You know, I did, so maybe we are on to something here.

On to her 7th birthday....We celebrated with treats on the playground with her class.  Olivia chose to have Skylar over for a spend the night party.  We kept adding to the fun by baking an orange cake together, getting a mani/pedi, eating at Los Bravos (party hat and song included), then waking up bright and early Saturday morning, her actual birthday, to open presents (they woke up early, we pulled ourselves out of bed worried that they didn't take Kobe out to use the bathroom).  Present opening was tons of fun with Skylar, Zach and Olivia....and Kobe.  Zach had a baseball game, so he and Dave were off.  I took the girls to see Alpha and Omega at the movies.  What is it about?  Two lost wolves and the hierarchy of the pack, none the less.  The girls loved the movie and asked to bring their 3D glasses home; maybe in hopes of daddy buying a 3D television?  Right.... We still need a normal t.v. for the lake!  After a stop by Publix for more cake ingredients (the first one was gluten free....tee hee hee, so I figured we could make another that she would really enjoy), they were given birthday balloons and we were on our way to make another cake.  Cake...check, playing...check, pool with friends...check, were were officially partied out!

Happy Birthday, our darling Olivia!

Riding Lessons and Little League

Olivia is truly an animal lover.  She loves the slimy ones, the stinky ones, the soft and cuddly ones.  She hit the jackpot with a new puppy....well, it's the family's puppy, but she finally got her wish.  With all of the activities that are offered to our children, Olivia hasn't found one that excites her.  Sure, she took Karate for a year.  It was fun, but not what she truly loved.  She loves swimming now, but that's not a sport I want to continue until next spring.  So, we found a stable recently and she started riding lessons last Friday.  Olivia loves her new boots and she even wore them to school on Friday.  The horse that she will be training on is named Midnight.  It's still early in the process, but I hope that she enjoys herself.  Did I mention the barn has numerous cats and she has to say hello to them before she saddles up?  Yes, that's a win-win situation.

My main man, Zach, started Little League baseball this past Saturday.  I'm actually enjoying the practices and games as well.  Granted, we are only one week in to it.  This age group uses the pitching machine, which can be hard for the kids, but they are getting the hang of it.  Zach was awarded a game ball at Saturday's game to recognize a great stop at short stop.  Go Zach!  He was proud of himself and so were we!  He is on the Braves team, how cute.  

Labor Day firsts.. football and dog days

Who would have thought of what a small, pint-sized puppy would open my eyes to see.  Kobe was introduced to the lake house this Labor Day weekend.  With the introduction, came a new place for him to pee and poop.  With Kobe being there, it forced me to go outside just before or at sunrise.  I saw and heard so many animals in the area.  Area?!  They were actually in our yard!  Zach and I saw a beautiful and elegant deer, a doe to be exact.  Then we heard the coyotes.  Yep, Kobe will not be going out alone.  Hawks and a bald eagle were spotted this weekend too.  All, unfortunately, could be fatal to our little pup.  So, he will be watched over for some time to come.  Kobe loved the lake house and the beach.  He was a bit hesitant to be in the water, but he also fell off the dock at one point.  Olivia 'saved' him.  Poor, wet pup wasn't too happy.

I've realized that having a puppy around makes me take life a little slower too.  I'm typically out of the house the entire time the kids are in school.  Now, I need to be home to take Kobe out and to play with him.  It's nice being home and it's quite relaxing.  Interesting how a puppy changes things...for the better.

As for Labor Day, it was a nice, quiet weekend for us.  We spent Saturday at the GA Tech football game.  Quite boring, but boy, the South Carolina State band kicked it up a notch.  I got chills watching them!  Yes, chills when a marching band played.  Strange, but true.  Football season is officially here, so you know what we'll be doing most weekends (in addition to little league games).  Zach starts practice today!