It's football time in Tennessee!!!

During the fall, Saturdays in the South mean one thing: football! (And lots of it!) I'll be honest; I'm not a big fan of football - or any sport, really. I was raised right, though. There was LOTS of football when I was growing up. I cheered for youth football. My brother played football from elementary to high school. I went to my first UT game in 4th grade after years of being taught the awesomeness of being a Vol! And I have attended many, many football games since (from youth to pro); not to mention the gazillion hours of televised football I've been subjected to over the years. All that being said, I still don't like it, and I have no idea how the game is played. However, I do enjoy going to the games, especially at Neyland Stadium in beautiful Knoxville, TN. There's just something about UT football games: the fans, the team, the band, the tradition, and all that ORANGE! When you've been taught that your 'blood runs orange' since toddlerhood, it just kinda sticks with you. So you can imagine how excited I was to take JA to his first UT football game this past weekend :)

Look at that excited little face! A true UT Volunteer!

We had so much fun! We stopped to get a little to eat before the game. JA was taking his sweet time, even though his Daddy couldn't sit still and was ready to get going. He actually asked JA if he could finish up while walking :) What should have only taken fifteen minutes lasted for well over half an hour! Luckily, we made it in plenty of time to see the Vol Walk (JA wasn't too impressed with that) and band. While waiting for the band, cheerleaders, and Smokey to march down, JA started singing Rocky Top. It was the most adorable thing! 'Wocky Top, you always be, home sweet home to me! Good. O. Wocky Top. Wocky Top, Tenn-a-say!' He would spin around and around, singing this over and over. He also found two new rocks to add to his collection while waiting for the band. JA had a front row seat and loved the band! We were afraid the noise might scare him, but he did great! He was smiling and clapping and got VERY excited when he saw Smokey run by! We went ahead to the stadium after the march, easily found our gate, and were in our seats OVER an hour before the game started! I was afraid JA couldn't handle being there that long, but he did great! We watched the players warm up. JA would yell, "Frow it! Kick it and frow it!" Our seatmates arrived with two little ones in tow, and that just made the experience even better. The kids enjoyed sitting beside and talking to each other. We sent Daddy to the concession stand for water, popcorn, and Skittles, and we were set for the night! Since it was a night game, we brought out the hoodies once the game started. It was perfect football weather: just a slight chill in the air, no clouds in the sky; ahhhh, I love fall! JA enjoyed the entire experience: the game, crowd, cheering, band, Smokey, fireworks, and of course, all of the police officers, fire fighters, and emergency vehicles. JA would randomly stand in my lap, facing the crowd behind us, and start singing Rocky Top. He also began asking the folks around us if they were sleepy. He would let them know (in no uncertain terms) that he was not :) Our seats were close to the fireworks. JA seemed a little scared about the booms to begin with, but soon came to love watching the fireworks, as long as he was being held by either mommy or daddy. The halftime show was awesome - a tribute to trains! It couldn't have been more perfect; they even formed a train on the field!

Football and a train? Score!

 







 The game itself was closer than expected. UT was playing a little school, and everyone was expecting an easy W. Imagine our surprise when Akron scored a touchdown within the first couple of minutes! The game was super close during the first half with the teams either tied or trailing by 3 points. There were several disappointed Vol fans in the stands, to say the least.  My disappointment came from the extreme discomfort of the bleachers coupled with the insane amount of time the first quarter took. Seriously, I have never seen a quarter last that long! Luckily halftime was awesome, and the team got it together in the second half. We left after the third quarter, despite JA's protests and requests to 'watch dem pway football!' We wanted to beat the crowd, but there were lots of people leaving, as well. We hoofed it back to the car, but not before purchasing the perfect addition to JA's big boy orange and white room! (pictures and post to come, promise!)

We missed our ramp to get onto I40, which wouldn't be a big deal, normally. Unfortunately, the police had all the close alternatives blocked. I do believe we drove around downtown Knoxville (which can be a little scary) for a good twenty minutes before getting where we needed to be. JA slept for about thirty minutes and was VERY awake for the rest of the drive home. He 'hijacked' the GPS around Monterey, and I'm still not sure what he did to it. He kept saying, "We go dis way. To the weft. Go right. I have me GPS, Mommy. We go dis way!" Too cute!

It was one in the morning once we finally got home with JA talking about 'Johnny Majors being asleep.' He was quite upset when he realized we were going to bed without a bath, a story, or watching Charlie Brown, but the little fella fell asleep almost the minute his head hit the pillow. He woke up this morning singing Rocky Top and talking about fireworks. I do believe he enjoyed his first UT football game and will be looking forward to the next. I know that's how mommy and daddy feel :)

I said, it's GREAT to be a Tennessee Vol!!!



~in absentia~

Soooo, I found myself very, VERY busy with student teaching, caring for JA, the house, & dale, and, well, just life in general. I ended up LOVING student teaching - I had a wonderful group of sweet first graders with the most awesome mentor teacher in the best school ever! While I did miss JA, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Plus, the kids loved seeing and hearing about him. JA was an engineer for halloween.  We had a yummy and busy Thanksgiving. Student teaching ended December 9th, and to celebrate that part of our lives being over (as well as an early Christmas present), we went to Chattanooga! We stayed at the Choo-Choo again and had a wonderful packaged deal. We rode the north pole express (saw Santa!), visited the aquarium (JA started saying fish as soon as he saw it), had an 'elf tuck-in', as well as a few other things. JA (and dale and I) loved the train ride! There were cookies and chocolate milk, the north pole was nicely decorated with lots of lights, and Santa joined us on the ride back! JA was super-excited and started saying, 'Cwaus, Cwaus!' We didn't have any freak-outs at the aquarium this time, and we all enjoyed our visit to the children's museum. We did more walking around downtown this time so we were able to explore even more! We absolutely LOVE Chattanooga and can't wait for our next visit :)

I went to graduation practice :) the following Thursday night and got my letter of completion :) as well as something to wear for graduation, which was on Saturday, Dec. 17th. This is where I would insert a cap and gown picture from that day, if I had one... Unfortunately, JA woke up around midnight vomiting. Serious vomit. Exorcist-like vomit. I'm still not sure where all of it came from, there's no way that little guy had that much in his tiny tummy. Needless to say, after being up with him for hours and cleaning up so much barf that I should be exempt from ever cleaning vomit again, I stayed home with my sick little guy. He was so pitiful and only wanted his Mommy. I still graduated - I just missed out on all the 'pomp and circumstance.'(Once JA got over the stomach bug, Dale came down with it.)
Christmas was busy and FUN! Santa brought JA a train table (complete with lots of track, trains, and other accessories), as well as a little tykes cozy coupe, pop gun, train whistle, and train night light. btw - have you ever put one of those cozy coupes together? It's ridiculous! It comes in this huge box and NONE of it is preassembled. I had to get out a hammer and piece of wood! It took two college-educated adults over four hours to put that thing together! Seriously ridiculous!

We visited the train exhibit at Cheekwood again, and JA's great grandparents went with us. JA was too cute leading them around the grounds, giving them a personal, guided tour :)
JA's birthday is rapidly approaching, and I decided that I wanted to try a homemade birthday party this year. (I'm making all of the food, decorations, etc) Hopefully, it will turn out okay. I have to say the invitations and favor bags are too cute! We are doing a train theme (anyone surprised by that?) I'm planning to have a candy bar, train shaped cupcakes, a cake with a train/candle topper, and a train themed food table. I've created a board for the party on Pinterest (btw - who else is completely addicted to that site?!?) Anywho, I'm planning to post some of the projects on here as time allows :)
One of my best friends is doing her counseling internship this semester, and I am helping her out by keeping her sweet little ones a couple of times a week. JA loves them (as do I) - I just know we are going to have a great time! The little girl is a few months younger than JA, and the baby boy is almost three months old. Yep, three little ones, ages 2 and under :) We are going to have some fun, busy times!
So... I think that's about it - the past few months in a nutshell. 2011 was full of blessings from the Lord - we had a good year and pray that 2012 will find us following God's will and doing His work :)