A Little Basketball Competition!

We are well into the basketball season here in the south.  Big A is playing on his regular 8th Grade Team as well as with the Junior Varsity Team.  He is one busy guy!  I think Meme T and family eat, drink and sleep basketball.....when they get to sleep!!  On the days Big A is not practicing he has a game or some other related activity.  JR and I try to attend home games and those that are not to far away.  Last weekend we traveled to an away game that was about a seventy minute drive -- over the mountain and through a valley along a little winding road.  This drive is not for the fainthearted!!  Going over to the game we were on the inside of the mountain, which was not so bad as long as JR kept his eyes on the road.  The opposite side of the road was a sheer drop off  -  no guard rail - and no shoulder to lean on!  If you met with misfortune and left the black top, you could plunge hundreds of feet down the ravine to who knows where!!  Vanishing without a trace!!  So, being the "brave" person that I am, I refused to travel home in the dark along that suicide highway.  Fortunately, most parties agreed and we came back a different route that allowed us to keep down our dinner!!  I get dizzy still thinking about that road - the perfect setting for an Alfred Hitchcock movie!! 

Back to basketball, below are various pictures from some of Big A's basketball games - ENJOY11

Here's the starting line-up.  That's Big A up front - #33 - the tallest one!  That's JR with the cap on talking to someone in a cowboy hat.

Big A is moving out on to the court.  He's a blur!!

Oops - have to stop and say "hi" to "Wee Bob"!  Wee Bob will call Big A's name during the game and point his cute little fingers at him.  Go Big A!! (That's Papa T holding Wee Bob - I think Meme T was selling snacks at the concession stand.)

When things get a bit slow, Wee Bob will take a break and drink JR's "Dew". That is "Pooh" to the left with a dab of red hair (she decided to try something different and I have to say she succeeded) and "Bob" to the right in the black.  I think the hand you see up close is JR's. His hands are very photogenic!!

 Wee Bob is checking out the "chicks" - "Would you like to share my juice pretty girl??"

There's Meme T!!  She didn't have to work in the concession stand during this game. Hooray!!

That's Big A jumping to make a basket.  2 Seconds on the clock -  Shoot! Shoot!  Shoot!

(I had to revert to Facebook since I missed taking this picture - It's hard to yell and click at the same time!)

 During this game Wee Bob is enjoying a candy pacifier while he sits with Bob.  (Candy pacifiers are very, very, very, very messy!  Now wonder who bought that for him??) Wee Bob is pretending not to be checking out that pretty little redhead to the left of him!!  But he sure did a lot of eyeballing when he didn't think we were watching!!

 

 

When the games begin to get long, the pretty little girls all leave, or Big A has been benched, there is always JR's lap to sit in and snacks to nibble on!! Oh, the sweet life of a toddler!!

 

 

Now you know why so many evenings are spent at Big A's basketball games.  Good people, good food, good drink, and good fun!!  So what if I am bleary eyed at work the next day..... So what if I have trouble keeping awake at my computer ...... So what if I don't hear the alarm clock......So what if I want to crawl into a ball and sleep.....So what if I am going deaf from all the screaming....So what if I am tempted to call in sick......(I didn't really say that did I?)..............?????

 

THE GAME MUST GO ON !!!!!!

 

See you all soon.....

Love,

Dee Dee

 

The Happy Faces of Halloween!

Halloween came and went in a blur of changing leaves and costumes.  It was a week-long event at school and the cooler weather with "frost on the pumpkin" definitely set the stage.  As I looked out my classroom window I felt a stir of Halloween anticipation........

If I could only have figured out a good reason to "play hooky"!

 



 Some trees in town were ablaze with color.....

While other trees were almost there...

(I liked the patriotic flagpole and mailbox!!)

 

 

 



 Meanwhile, our halls at school were decked out with flags and .....

 

 

PUMPKINS!!!  (These were carried in from the bus after Kindergarten visited the Pumpkin Patch.  Aren't they cute?  Makes you just want to squeeze them!)

 

 



Monday was "Rocking 50's Day".  Or was it "Rocking 60's Day".  Whatever it was, we had period music blasting over the intercom system as the children came to school that morning.  Did you ever try to keep over a hundred young children quiet in the hall - before the first bell signals them to go to their classroom - with music blaring and teachers and kids dressed in "retro" clothing?  I tell you honestly, it is not a job for the fainthearted!!!!

 

 



  I was amazed at the creativity on the part of the teachers, parents, and students. Maybe pink poodle skirts will come back in style!!

 

 

 TUESDAY WAS PICTURE DAY AND EVERYONE WORE THEIR FINEST CLOTHING.  I  DO NOT DO PICTURES -  IF I CAN HELP IT - UNLESS I AM BRIBED!! I AM GETTING GOOD AT HIDING ON PICTURE DAY!

 

WEDNESDAY WAS "RED RIBBON" DAY AND EVERYONE WORE -- WELL RED OF COURSE!!

 

FINALLY, IT WAS THURSDAY AND HALLOWEEN!!  THE WEATHER PEOPLE HAD PREDICTED LOTS OF RAIN FOR HALLOWEEN NIGHT AND SOME TOWNS AND CHURCHES CHANGED THEIR FUN DAY TO WEDNESDAY EVENING.  BUT.......AS OFTEN HAPPENS.......THE RAIN HELD OFF UNTIL LATE THURSDAY NIGHT SO MOST ACTIVITIES WENT ON AS PLANNED.  Hooray!!

 

 

 We had "Super-Hero" teachers at school.....

 

 

 

 "Witches" took over PE that day........

 

 

 The "Duck Dynasty" folks were everywhere........

 Wee Bob was the "littlest Super-Hero".  (Yep, I had to resort to Facebook again..)

 

 

 Wee Bob, Pooh, and Bob as the "Super-Hero Family".  (Thank you Pooh for the picture!!)
Uh, have you all been underground in your hideout to long?  Your eyes look weird!
(Question of the day....Can a "Super-Hero Family" wash windows and rake leaves faster than a speeding bullet?   If so, I want to hire you!!)

 

 Even the dog "Duke" was dressed up!  Poor Duke, he had to resort to being a pumpkin!!

 

 



I found this picture on line but thought it was worth sharing.  Triplets dressed up as a "banana split".  Love it!!

 

So that was Halloween the South of nowhere.  We did not have any "trick or treaters" because we live so far off the road and have three "mean" dogs to contend with.  Not to mention cows in the fields and a few harmless looking bulls! 

 

A belated "BOO"!

Dee Dee

Fall Fun!

Last week Big A decided he wanted to come down to the farm and spend some time "hanging out". So, after "hanging out" down at the barn for awhile he meandered up to the house to announce that he was hungry!  Nothing new there!  As I was trying to decide how many grilled cheese sandwiches would fill him up, JR decides we would just go to town and grab a bite and then we could run by the John Deere Dealership and "look".  Since I never pass up a chance of having not to cook, we headed to town and did just that.  I asked Big A how he was going to get home that evening and he replied, "We'll worry about that when the time comes!".  Don't you just love teenage wisdom?  Meanwhile, Cory's niece and nephew were spending the afternoon with Krissy and Cory so Big A decided he would hang out over there for awhile when we got back from town.  It was a beautiful, cool, late fall afternoon and the kids, (big, little, and grown), were all outside playing basketball.

Wee Bob was delighted to have Uncle A visit because he could wrangle a few slides into the hay pile from him!

 

 

 

 



 "Wait Uncle A!  I want to go down the slide one more time!"

 

"Oh Well, if you can't beat them, join them.  Lift me higher Uncle A!!"

"Way to go Uncle A!  2 Points for me!!"

The "kids" had on some of the craziest outfits!  They left their "good" clothes in the house and changed into a mis-match of mis-sized clothes and shoes. (Are they real words??) I kept looking at "Little B's" feet because they just looked all wrong.  Come to find out he wears about a size 9 shoe but he had changed into Bob's size 12 tennis shoes.  CLOWN TIME!!  Duke the dog decided he would rather sniff leaves and snooze.  I tried my hand at a few shots but did not do so well.  I mean I ALMOST made a basket and then the wind blew and knocked it in the other direction.  Really!!  Had to be.   The wind was blowing really, really hard that day!!!!  Soon after, JR and I headed home and left the ball playing to the "kids".  Nothing like a hot cup of tea, a warm blanket, and a good book to read!!!

 

Coming soon.....Halloween!!

It's Pumpkin Time!!

Gosh, I can't believe that Halloween is almost here.  Naturally, Bob and Pooh had to take Wee Bob to visit the Pumpkin Patch so he could pick out his very own pumpkin!!  I think Bob and Pooh enjoyed the trip also judging by all the pumpkins they brought home.  So many Big, Little, Short and Round Pumpkins!! There is a nip in the air and it's time to break out the long sleeve shirts.  Hooray for Fall!

Pooh, Bob and Wee Bob at the Pumpkin Patch.  That's the Corn Maze behind them.  You can seriously get LOST in a corn maze!! Some corn mazes require a GPS System to navigate.  Or maybe it's just my tired "old" brain that refuses to register twists and turns.

 



Wee Bob enjoying the corn bin.  Wonder how many kernels of corn were found in his socks? .....in his ears?   Wonder how many kernels of corn he devoured before he was caught?

 

 

                                                                                       Big kids like to play in the corn too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wee Bob as "Old Farmer Brown" with his "moo" cow.  Yes, sometimes I have to resort to snapping pictures off of Facebook because................lets just say that pictures are not always forwarded to me in a timely manner!!  (Hint! Hint!)



                                                              Stop the search! Call off the guards!  I have found .....
                                      "The Great Pumpkin"!




 

 Dad and son heading home.........(Pooh must still be wandering around in the corn maze!)



The next day it was...............

 Carving time!!! ...Let the fun begin!

"Hmmmm....no one is paying any attention to me.  Hey!  You guys go ahead and carve the
pumpkins ...I'm going to turn over this box and......'me and my friend' are going to......

 

STAND ON IT AND JUMP OFF!! Wheeee..."

(Take note of that four legged white "ghost" in the background...he will be in BIG trouble soon!)

 

 

"Now it's time to go up the steps and slide down into a.......

puddle of leaves!!!  Lets do it again!"

 

 

 

 

After many hours of carving, complete with hand cramps and back aches, the end results were amazing!  (Again I  had to resort to a Facebook picture because certain "kin folk" did not send me pictures as requested!!) That night, as the pumpkins were lined up on Wee Bob's front porch, two four legged creatures had a night on the town playing "Bowling Pumpkins" resulting in the demise of Wee Bob's Pumpkin Patch.  Fortunately, the local farmer's market and stores are well stocked with pumpkins this year!   But just the thought of all that hard work being turned into pumpkin pie makes me want to cry..."Sniff".  Wee Bob took it in stride.  Give him a box to stand on and a pile of leaves to land in any day!!

 

Happy Halloween!!



Dogs Will Be Boys!

It is definitely jacket wearing, coffee drinking, chili eating, put the lawn mower in the barn type of weather here in the south!  Our dogs are feeling their "oats" as they put the "dog days" of summer behind.  One of their favorite things to do is to play "King of the Haystack"!  (As long as Wee Bob is not here to reign.)  With three dogs this sometimes turns into a real battle!

This is Bandit and he thinks he is the boss!!

No way is Bandit going to share "his" hay bale!!

He hears the other two dogs tying to sneak up on him......

 

Well, he will just see about that!!!

Bandit has tackled Gypsy and knocked him to the ground.  One down and one to go!

A fierce battle takes place with Bandit's biological brother "Curly Que" or QE as we call him.  Sometimes we call him Bama. He's a dog without a name! 

QE and Bandit go at it pretty heavy for a few minutes..... 

 

 

Teeth are barred and the growling is horrific!!

 

 

 



But in the end Bandit remains "King of the Haystack"!  For today anyway.  He is so arrogant!!!  He just dares his siblings to knock him off!!  Hmmm.....next time Bandit may be the one looking up!! 

 

 

I think we have three dogs to many but what do I know?   They are amusing to watch.  One minute they go at each other like cats and dogs and the next minute they are sleeping soundly next to each other.  Wonder if the R's and D's might need a lesson from my dogs???!!!

 

Well, it's time for me to don my jacket and slip on my walking shoes and get a bit of exercise.  See you all soon....

 

Dee Dee