Today....

I am thankful that I have a job with a steady income.

Today....

I am thankful for all my friends. That one was easy! ;-)

I'm Baaaaaaccckkkk!

And I'm not going to post on my horrible Shutterfly experience.

And I'm not going to post on how busy I've been lately.

And I'm not going to post on the people who decided to work on my neighbors house with jackhammers this morning while I was sleeping because I worked last night.

And I am NOT going to post on my youngest daughter who told me on the way to school she was "definitely not cute because my pants are not the ones I wanted; they're horrible; don't tell me I look cute".

And I am NOT going to post on my oldest daughter egging on the tantrum about the pants this morning.

I'm just going to say: the sun is out; it's a gorgeous fall day outside; there is no rain and I have a lot to be thankful for. As a matter of fact, I'm going to steal an idea from a person on facebook and post something I'm thankful for every day until Thanksgiving. I'm getting a late start on it but I think it will still be a good thing. Anybody else want to play the thankful game with me?

So for today: I am thankful for the sunshine and the fact that I am not one of the people dealing with a flooded house.

What are you thankful for today?

Forever

I've been gone for forever.
Have you noticed?
Life has taken over my life!
Blog time has taken a hit.
But cheerleading is over.
The 4th grade squad made the playoffs.
But they lost in the first game.
The 1st grade squad missed the playoffs by 1 minute and 2 seconds.
The end of year party was tonight.
So now it's all over.
I don't go back to work until Wednesday.
And basketball doesn't start until Friday.
Maybe my house can actually get a total cleaning now!!

Done

My last Homecoming Tailgate Party is in the books. Finished. Done. Over. Kaput.

It had taken over my life!

Don't get me wrong; it is my all time FAVORITE family fun night event that we put on. (Other than the Halloween Costume Contest Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A which is in 2 weeks!) The only problem is that it takes a lot of hard work to put on a tailgate party for 300+ people!! That's right folks! What started out as a party with about 40 people has ballooned into a huge family event for our school over the past 4 years.

After my friend Tonya and I called about 40 restaurants to get food donated we ended up with an enviable spread of gourmet delights. We had chicken fingers, BBQ, hot dogs, hot wings, pizzas and about a dozen or more sides. Desserts were chocolate cake, strawberry cake and cookies. I don't think anyone really left hungry. We even had people walking up and asking if they could pay and eat!! Of course we didn't turn anyone away. Also, per usual the temp dropped to the first really cold night of the season. But people still showed up!!! It was great, fun, exciting and exhausting. I fell asleep as soon as I fell into bed. And, according to hubs, I didn't move but one time the entire night. He said it actually scared him when I did move because I had been so still!!

Here's the run down of my Homecoming Festivities:
6:45 Alarm goes off. Push snooze.
6:54 Alarm goes off. Push snooze again.
7:03 Alarm goes off. Realize if I don't get moving we'll be late!
7:05 Shower
7:20 Wake up girls. Wake up Andy.
8:00 Head out the door to school.
8:20 Finish handing out tailgate ticket envelopes (people turned them in that morning!). Have more tickets made. Stuff more envelopes. Hand out more envelopes.
8:45 Head to Belle's pep rally.
9:30 Bust out the backdoor, do the Pep Rally Dash and head to Hayden's pep rally.
10:20 Head to pick up some of the donated items for tailgate.
10:30 Drop off more tailgate tickets and pick up the 3 MORE that were dropped off!
11:00 To high school to find out that no they are not pre-selling adult tickets for the game.
11:30 Get girls from early release. Which means matinee brawls in my house!! Whoo hoo!
11:40 Pick up more tailgate items.
11:45 Head back home; have lunch; everyone else gets to rest (ha ha) while I try to finalize a few last minute things.
1:40 To the Old City Gym parking lot to decorate the trailer for the parade.
3:00 Ride in said trailer in parade while trying to keep the girls from beaning people in the head with the candy they were tossing out. Like the elementary school principal who took one to the head and the assistant superintendent of the schools who took one off the side of hers.
4:00 Jump off trailer, collect girls and head to BES to get tables.
4:15 Start setting up for tailgate party, run back to BES one more time after realizing all I've forgotten, explain crazy hair, set food up, organize where people will be working.
5:30 Start tailgate party. Serve 300+ people dinner for 1 1/2 hours, chatting the entire time (don't act like that is a big shock!). Freeze behind off. And hands...
and face.
7:00 Clean up tailgate party.
7:30 Deliver tables back to the school.
7:45 Deliver left over food to Fire Station 14.
8:00 Recover my kids from Tonya.
8:15 Get kids to bed. Finish candy bags for 9 year old football team for Homecoming.
11:00 Fall into a wonderful dreamless sleep.

Saturday
8:15 Wake up to Belle asking me do I know what time it is and do I know we have to be at the field in 15 minutes?
8:45 Arrive at field with 2 fully dressed cheerleaders, seats, candy bags, camera and team mom bag. (Yeah I'm THAT good!)
9:00 Sit bundled up freezing cold in a downpour for 3 hours watching 2 football games.

I'd like to know why Homecoming means I'm never AT home?!?!?

3rd place winners!!!

3rd place! 3rd place! They got 3rd place!!

So much joy and jubilation!! The girls did great! They looked great, performed great, had great attitudes and great sportsmanship. I was so proud of all of them but especially my little Hayden Bayden (okay not so little but I'm having a moment here!). And yes, I got misty eyed when they announced that they had won 3rd place. And I got even more misty eyed when NOT ONE girl was mad that they didn't get 2nd or 1st (although I most certainly do believe that it would not have surprised me if they had gotten higher, the competition was THAT close!). So proud!

And now......

Cheer off is officially over. By this I mean that I have uploaded the video and pictures off my camera AND posted them to websites. Go me, go me! In case you haven't visited the Wiggs Family Website I've put the video of the Cheer Off on the bottom of the page. Hayden is on the far right on the 4th row at the beginning of their routine and on the far right in the 2nd row during the dance. Check it out! Don't forget to pause the music on the playlist so you can hear the video.

Finally!!

Ding dong the tooth is gone! Which old tooth? The wicked tooth!

Ding dong the wicked tooth is gone!!!

Yes, it's true the tooth has finally come out! I think I probably had more to do with that than Hayden but at least it's out. She wouldn't wiggle it so I decided to help her floss each night. And each night I would catch it with the floss and tug just a wee little bit. Tonight I did that and it was hanging on by one little piece. So I tried to pull it out but it wouldn't come out! By this point Hayden was freaking out because she was hurting, there was blood, and she wouldn't stop touching it with her tongue. Did I mention there was blood? So I didn't want to mess with it anymore. I was just worried she was going to swallow the tooth in her sleep. And I was NOT, and I mean NOT, going to be looking through her poop for the tooth!!! Hayden was having NONE of leaving it alone. Long story short, I pulled the tooth. And the tooth that was causing all the problems by coming in? That sucker is already poking up through the gums!! So no extraction visits for us. And only five more baby teeth to lose. Whoo hoo!!