Welcome to Alabama, Joe Pa!

***Author's Note 8/31/2012 I am leaving this post in tact, changing no words about it. But at the very mention of Joe Paterno, I must offer my prayers to all the victims in the Sandusky crimes, to all the innocent football players whose football careers will be marred by association with this program, and to all the residents of Happy Valley who simply love football and now question every truth they believed about Penn State University and its "respected" leaders.***

This is a recap of a game from 2 wks ago...yesterday the Morrises traveled to Dalton, GA for a family reunion -- more about that later -- and had to listen to the game on the radio.

Am I the only one who was curious as to what qualifies a lion to be a "Nittany Lion"?  Apparently, "the origins of 'Nittany' are a bit obscure, but most likely the word comes from a Native American term meaning, 'single mountain.' (Since a number of Algonquian-speaking tribes inhabited central Pennsylvania, the term can’t be traced to one single group.) The description applied to the mountain that separates what is today Penns Valley and Nittany Valley, with its western end overlooking the community of State College and Penn State's University Park campus. The first colonial settlers in the 1700s adopted this term, or a variation of it, in formally naming Nittany Mountain."  Thank you Penn State for the answer.

On Sept. 11th, Alabama played host to Penn State U's Nittany Lions.  Head Coach Joe Paterno faced the Crimson Tide for the first time since the '90s.  It's kinda an iconic day--"Joe Pa" coached against The Bear and now against Saban.  Also, there was a famous (knockoff) piece of hardware making the rounds on the Quad:

And who was that football player walking around with the trophy?  See below.  We managed to get a quick photo before he and his trophy moved on to other tailgate sites.

And it was hot!!! We were literally wilting.  We all went from "Hey, we are some cuties," to "can someone get me a napkin so I can dab my sweat?"  I think there was 150% humidity!  The poor fans from Pennsylvania looked like they were going into shock.  Even the most "seasoned" tailgaters started looking a little weak and/or sweaty:

This picture cracks me up!!! Jonathan and Meredith are the only ones "ready"...

Phew, it was a long day of tailgating, but it was finally game time!

Looking straight ahead at the new South Endzone

Here are a couple of shots from the pre-game introduction video and of the Boys of Fall doing their warm ups:

One last happy pose before kickoff:

We had a great time!  The final score was 24-3 which helped #1 Alabama stay at the top of the charts with their 2-0 season start.  And, in the words of Eli Gould, "It's good!"

Finally Football Season!!!

It's here!  Can't you just smell the magic in the air?  Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to the most wonderful time of the year...College Football Season!  Oh, how my crimson blood stirs with excitement!  In fact, I've been so happily celebrating this time period, I am a couple of weeks behind in my posting.  Anyhoo, let's go back in time to Saturday, September 4, 2010...

Alabama's opening game against San Jose State.  We won 48 - 3!!!  Woo-Hoo!!!  The Morris clan watched the game in Calera, AL with the Markham family.  Rob and Caroline had a ball playing with li'l Mikayla.  I love all our beautifully crimson-clad cuties.

Meredith and I always have fun together! She's a newer friend of mine, but I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know her.

It's really nice to have some strong girlfriends in your life.

And lastly, because Alabama made its incredible run to a 13th National Championship in '09, this is actually the 2nd football season Caroline has experienced in less than one year of life!  Here's a little flashback for ya:

This was on December 5, 2009 (which happened to be CC's due date. As it would happen, she was 4 days old).  Alabama defeated the FL Gators 32-13 and would go on to beat Texas 37-21 in Pasadena Jan 7, 2010!

Roll Tide Roll, everybody!!!

Happy Birthday Miles and Rob

Okay, this post is waaaay late, but I just wanted to record the memories in bloggerland for all eternity.  Rob and Miles are not only great buddies, they are also cousins who have birthdays one week apart...8 days to be exact.  Which is quite the coincidence since Miles' mommy and I have birthdays 8 days apart, too!  Doncha just love fate?  Slight difference, Miles is 2 yrs (minus 8 days) older than Rob.

On Aug 28th, Rob turned 4.  We had a backyard bash for him. First up, sack races.  I should take the time to mention that none of the kids knew about these games...so sad!  It was great to watch them "get back to the basics" of fun.

 

I'm not sure you can tell from these pictures, but it started raining.  Didn't slow the kids down any.  It seems to rain every single year on Rob's birthday.  Last year was the only year we planned an indoors party and guess what: no rain!

I don't have pictures of all the festivities -- I was taking on the roll of party director.  However, we also played a rainy-day version of a cake walk which Mikayla Markham won.  Everyone clapped when she won which caused her to cry (she's a little bashful).  We also played a football version of Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey.  Again, kids know nothing about these games anymore.  Miles looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned the original game's name.  Then there was this:

What is it about kids loving to whack a cardboard candy-filled party decoration?

 Time for cake!

Though it was not the party theme, Rob again picked a pirate cake.  Wal-Mart in Alabaster, AL did a fantabulous job with the decorations!  And the cake tasted good, too!  I wish I had ordered a larger one for some leftovers!

The next weekend was Miles' party.  We went to a local, very nice, park.  Guess what?  No rain!  It was great weather and actually a little cooler than the past few days.

Miles had a mixture of cake and cupcakes.  It was delicious, too.  You can tell how much the kiddos loved the sweet confections:

Caroline wants a bite of cake:

It had been a long week.  This party followed Rob's first week of Pre-School.  He was adjusting to a totally new daily schedule, bedtime routine, etc.  So one of the funniest parts of Miles' birthday party was our car ride home.  Enjoy this video, people.  And I'll see you next time!

Rob's First Day of Preschool

I can't believe it!  My heart is so heavy with bittersweetly swelling pride!  On Wednesday, September 1st my little boy started school!  He is an official 4-K student at Prince of Peace Catholic School.  He goes from 8 AM until 1 PM Monday through Friday!  We have the most fabulous teacher, Ms. Tania, about whom Rob thinks the world!  He adores her already!

That being said, I am a terrible mother!  I didn't take one single picture of Rob at Meet-The-Teacher day.  I was so busy watching him taking in the room and his new environment.  He and Ms. Tania held hands as she led him around each station and center and circle.

Nevertheless, here is my big boy the next morning:

He was beaming with excitement.  Before I had his shoes on properly he was already walking around the house with "C'mon" and "Let's not be late!"  But wait, son, just one more picture of my big boy (who is still proudly celebrating the fact that he turned 4).

I did not get to walk him into his classroom.  Heartache!  The POP theory states that children who are escorted by the Faculty/Staff from their parents' car have less separation anxiety...didn't help my anxiety!  One more picture while we're sitting in carpool line, please.

Okay, clearly Rob is not nervous...well maybe nervous excitement.  The day flew by for me!  I got nothing accomplished as I thought I would have done.  Soon it was time to pick up my big boy.  Here he comes and he is being escorted back to me by none other than the Fabulous Ms. Tania! 

At the end of the day, Rob was so very sleepy.  He didn't fill my heart and ears with the day's details like I thought he would have done.  Eventually through the week (we only went W-F the 1st week) he told me about his accomplishments of not talking on his towel (during rest time), how Ms. Tania shot a basketball through the hoop in the gym, how the line leader gets to lead everyone out of the classroom to the playground, etc., how the helping hand gets to wipe the tables after lunch, and how there are 2 Ryans in his classroom.  Ryan B. is a boy and Ryan C. is a girl -- his girlfriend! 

See you tomorrow, Prince of Peace!

Caroline Is 9 Months Old!

Weight: 18 lbs

Length: 27 1/4"

Sleeping Patterns: You go to bed about 7:30 PM. You still lose your pappy at night a lot and Mommy goes in to replace it and re-snuggle you up in your blanket.  Hmm, how long will this pattern last? But still...you are for the most part such a good sleeper!

Eating Habits: You still like your first-morning bottle.  You will eat a jar of baby food and wash it down with a small bottle mid-morning and mid-afternoon.  You usually take another large and another small bottle (dinner time and bed time).

New Discoveries & Accomplishments: You "walk" around everything you can -- the coffee table, from the sofa to the recliner, etc.  You also have learned to climb the stairs -- more on that in a minute.  Your biggest accomplishment this month seems to have been your loss of fear.  You babble so much, too.  Are you going to be a storyteller like Mommy?

Places You Love: It would be easier to list the places you don't love: excersaucer, carseat, stroller, swing.  You are on the go, little girl!  Since you learned to crawl, you have gone and gone and gone.  Mommy even caught you halfway up the stairs in a matter of seconds!  Up went the baby gate right away!

Special Friends: You played very well this month with Whitney.  She took good care of you as someone 3 1/2 yrs older would do.  You will be one tough little girl, too!  As you and your brother continue bonding, he is getting rough with you, but you just laugh and seem not to care at all!  What will we do?

Current Events: The US Senate votes 63 to 37 to confirm President Obama's most recent nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Elena Kagan -- only the 4th female ever, as the newest Justice (Aug 5).  Seven years after the war in Iraq began, President Obama announces the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom with a withdrawal of combat troops (Aug 31).

What We Did This Day: Your big brother started Pre-K today.  We got up and helped him off to school.  You and I took him and dropped him off.  While he was at school, we went to Nonna's house.