Restful Weekend

Our weekend was so relaxing and refreshing that it's hard to believe we've had a sick kid for a few days.

Thanksgiving Day we drove to Kansas City and back to spend the day with Erick's mom and extended family. It's always fun to reconnect. Sophia loves her family. She hated leaving, especially because there is a boatload of kids there. Lexie, in particular, makes for a very good partner in crime. Lexie turned three in July, and the two of them are as cute as they are ornery. Wish I took my camera.

Friday, Sophia was still just a little coughy, but all together doing fine. So after nap, we took her to Grandmary's house and had a long luxurious date. Dinner, movie, shopping. Perfection.

Then, Friday midnight, or is it Saturday, regardless, she woke up with croup. Now, I haven't blogged this fact because I didn't want to jinx anything, but now it's broken, so I can tell you. The winter of 2007-08 was awful. Two pneumonias, too many croups to count, colds constantly. She was on breathing treatments at least twice a day. Last year, however, Sophia didn't go to the doctor once (aside from the burn). We haven't used the nebulizer for breathing treatments for over 18 months. Until Friday. She's been on several breathing treatments a day now.

 

No more croup, just a continual cough. I hope to get in to the doctor today to be sure there is nothing extra that we're dealing with.

Seriously, though, in spite of, or maybe because Sophia was sick, we had a fantastic weekend. We stayed at home pretty much constantly. In our pajamas. Yes, Sophia's are Spongebob.

 

We got takeout for supper because we didn't want to be the ones with the coughing kid. We played and played. I remember now that Sophia is quite possibly even sweeter than normal when she is sick. We got so many cuddles and kisses and hugs. She was a big time Daddy's girl but she still prefers her mama when she needs some comfort or to sleep an extra little bit at nap.

It always helps our weekends when the Tigers win. But when they win over the Jayhawks to keep them out of a bowl, it makes our weekend, week, month, etc. Sophia watched the end of the game with gusto. I had to hold her for part, and as I wandered away, she said, "Mom, I wanted to watch the Tigers."

 

I just loved this weekend. It's a shame that Sophia wasn't feeling well, but it didn't seem to affect her fun at all. I could do with some more weekends that we do as little as we did during this one.

Homecoming Festivities

Homecoming Weekend has been fun, save the one particular disaster which will not be mentioned here...

The parade on Saturday morning was lots of fun. We waited for what seemed like forever, but finally it was coming. This was Sophia's reaction to hearing it was close...



Marching Mizzou is always a highlight for me, but Sophia covered her ears for every marching band, even the ones with a total of fifteen marchers...



The rest of the morning was a lot of fun just walking around and eating lunch downtown with all the excited fans, students and parents. Homecoming weekend is one of my favorites.

Then before the game, oops. Scratch that. Before bed, we had a tailgate on our street. See, an actual tailgate.



The best athleticism of the day right here. I'll cheer for this Tiger any day.

Girls Love Football

Our outing to The Zou without Erick and David was successful. If you followed the game at all, you know about the time I turned to Casey and said, "We should have just gone to a movie or something." I hate to admit that I said that, and no, I didn't really mean it. Not when it turned out to actually be a good game, and we actually ended up winning.

Tailgating was fun. This is the picture we got of the two of us together. Not terribly flattering, but it's going up anyway...



We tailgated with some friends of mine from the old workplace. None of us work there anymore obviously (as Governor Blunt didn't run for reelection), so it's great to get together now and then and catch up. This is Gabby. She wasn't around when I worked with her daddy, but I wish she was. She's awfully cute.



Just before we went into the game, we stopped by another friend's tailgate. Too late for food... But I took her picture anyway. Here's Casey with Alicia.



In the game, we sneaked past the ticket checkers at the top of each aisle so we could sit with my brother Seth and his wife Angie and their friends. Here they are. This must have been in between one of Seth's frequently chanted "I believe!"s from the first half.



There is a noticeable gap in picture taking because I decided the camera was pointless. Now I've decided the camera was bad luck. No more cameras at football games. Remind me of that. Obviously, my camera was jinxing us...

Because I didn't get it out again until I could capture the Tigers celebrating with the students!



It was such a stressful game. Unexpectedly so. I wasn't prepared for that, so I am pooped out beyond reason. My voice is gone. But I'm very proud of the way the Tigers battled back, even if it was Bowling Green. And the fans! Seriously, I've never been more impressed with a Mizzou crowd. They were seriously there to support the team. That was really a great feeling.

It was the best of days and the worst of games

The children of Timbers Court (Aaron, William and Sophia) spent the day with Mary today so that we adults could all go to Kansas City to see the MU v. KU game at Arrowhead Stadium. I had won the tickets and limo ride as a doorprize at a Boone Hospital Foundation event. So the four of us have been giddy about the trip for months.

I'm not sure if it was obvious that we don't normally ride in limos. What do you think?

We made it safely to the stadium and had already enjoyed a full tailgate of our own. Stan was our driver and he took this picture for us. We planned to have one taken with him but we were too distracted by the cold and our broken hopes after the game.

Once we got to the stadium, we said a quick hello to Seth and Angie, who also had tickets to the Showdown. Then we made our way to our seats on Row 11, next to this guy. He was incredibly grumpy. Giving us looks before the game started and saying nothing. He moved shortly after. I can't imagine why.

The snow came down pretty heavily in the second half. We were wet and cold, but we had lots of hope for a big comeback. The game was a rollercoaster of emotions that came to a screaching halt and tipped over with the now infamous FOURTH AND SEVEN.

Terrible though it was, we were warm and cozy on the drive home as Stan returned us safely to Timbers Court. And it's never a bad day when it ends with a dance with Sophia.

Mizzou Homecoming, Part I

Tonight was "House Decs" at Mizzou. A tradition where the Greek organizations on campus go all out to put on skits in front of their houses, complete with complicated sets, lighting and characters.

We were very excited to take Sophia to the first one that she would enjoy. So we bundled her up.

In my rush to bundle Sophia and pack all the necessities, I forgot to change out of my slippers. My friend Erica insisted they were fine, but they're red. I'm just saying. I look like the crazy old lady who wears slippers everywhere. No offense.

Sophia got a balloon, so all was well in her world.

And seeing her friend Ava was the icing on the cake! Obviously they're comparing balloons here. Fortunately, both purple.

Now we're excited for the parade and all the Homecoming glory of destroying the Colorado Buffaloes!

Go Tigers

Tailgating on a Diet

When we started our 6-week eating plan, we were fully aware that it coincided perfectly with the beginning of football season, and therefore would essentially ruin our tailgating for the bulk of the season. We have been as faithful as we could be, only enjoying a fraction of the beer (that sounds bad) that we normally would.

Yesterday, with a 7 o'clock kick-off time, we were just going to HAVE to try our best to come up with a tailgating solution, because tailgate we must! It was really a collaborative effort, assisted greatly by our friends. I had been complaining via instant messaging to our friend Martin that during his visit to our tailgate this weekend, we would be virtually beerless. He helpfully informed me of MGD 64, Miller's lightest beer, having only 64 calories! For some reason, Erick is strictly a no-Miller man, so Milwaukee's finest brew isn't often enjoyed in our home. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So, we gave it a try.

Erick summed it up pretty well. "It tastes about like you'd expect a 64-calorie beer to taste." However, having had so little exposure to beer in the past 3 1/2 weeks, it tasted pretty darn good. I don't think we'll make it a habit, though.

Our tailgate food was greatly boosted in appeal by our friends the Chandlers. Knowing of our resolution to continue with the eating plan, they chipped in by bringing these vegetable kabobs (photograph courtesy of Casey.)

They were even tastier than they look. So, that is one tailgate adjustment that just might remain after our initial period is over. With peppers, onions, and the largest zucchini and yellow squash that I have seen in a long time, complemented by some fresh mushrooms and grape tomatoes for color, these were the finest veggie kabobs in my memory. Mmmmmm.

Anyway, the Tigers didn't make it easy for us to stay on track last night. In the midst of our offensive sputtering, I was really missing some chips and queso, or at least some real beer! We managed to push through, although the Tigers couldn't. Next week, when the Tigers play Texas, we'll be good and I have no illusions that we'll have a lower stress level. I do, however, think our result will be different next week! Go Tigers! Feast on some Longhorn for me, since I have to control my portion size.

Homebodies

All three of us explored our homebody side this weekend. That was a big deal considering we're usually a family that is happiest on the go. On Saturday morning, we were beginning to get ready to head out to the Farmer's Market and garage sales, but Sophia said, "I'll stay at my house." Since she's not old enough to stay by herself, we decided to stay home with her. Really, it sounded great. We all stayed in our pajamas until noon. I actually got a lot accomplished around the house on Saturday, and all three of us had a great day just running rampant through our house in our pajamas.

Here's Sophia reading in her pj's.

Here I am drinking coffee in my pj's. This is proof that your entertainment and an occasional chuckle is more important to me than my reputation as a fashionista.

After Sophia went to bed, we got to watch the Tigers tromp Nebraska. That was just the best. I am still getting used to being a fan of a good team. It's a feeling I'm more than happy to get used to, though.

Today was a similar story, although we did get out this morning to go to church and celebrate Erick's mom's birthday with her over lunch.

We enjoyed getting out, but we were happy to get back to our house and stay here the rest of the day. I'm not even sad to have missed out on what appeared from my window to be a fabulous, sunny fall weekend. I'm getting sinus trouble anyway...

Ready for some football!

What do you do when you're a Tiger?

Display your gear proudly!

Act tougher and cooler than your opponents.

But help the other guy up when he needs a hand

Even if he's a lot bigger...

because you're a Tiger!

Go Tigers! First game tonight against the Fighting Illini in St. Louis.

Top Ten Reasons to Stick with our Tigers

10. An 11-2 season ain't all bad.
9. Most of our team comes back next year.
8. We still have a bowl game to win. (Hopefully BCS...unless we're robbed)
7. I look great in black and gold.
6. We beat Kansas.
5. Tailgating.
4. Chase Daniel.
3. Big XII North Champs - for the first time!
2. Coach Gary Pinkel - 'nuf said
1. Sophia still loves her Tigers.

We're Number One!

Seriously. It is something I guess I never really thought was a possibility, but here we are. After a well-fought Border War (we'll not call it a Showdown) with Kansas, the Missouri Tigers are #1! I'm just going to enjoy it. I'll leave the thought, stress and worry to others more capable and knowledgeable than myself.

Erick went to the game with Seth and Angie, and several members of his KC family. Needless to say, he had a wonderful time! Sophie and I were relegated to the hotel room. She stayed up for most of the first half, raising her arms and yelling "Touchdown!" She wore her Tiger ears all day Saturday and growled frequently. She's quite the little Tiger. We're very proud. Here's a picture of our Tiger and the scoreboard after the victory!

Go Tigers! Rip the Sooners!