Are you ready for some football?

Today is the first day of college football and Fred is of course glued to the TV. I have already had enough and it's not enough halftime yet. I love football, but prefer the NFL over college. Fred, having grown up in Tennessee, believes the only real football is played in college, in the south. I have already yelled at him for having the TV too loud. Torii was two feet away from me, yet I had to yell at him so he could hear me. Fred finally turned the TV down and he heard the last ring from a phone call. Then I finally got the boys settled down and off to bed and started to get Cordelia ready for bed. She probably would have fallen asleep except for the loud "Oh!'s" after big hits. So I am annoyed and looking forward to mid-January. Florida hasn't played yet and don't get me started on that. Fred takes out all the fun of watching a football game when they play. On another note, I find it so funny that Fred's southern accent comes on strong during SEC games. I don't notice it much anymore, but I think he has lost some of it since living up here for awhile now. But when he is talking to friends down home or watching SEC games, the accent returns.

Dear Kelly,

Congratulations! You're going to be a mom! Now you don't have to answer that question anymore: when are you going to have kids? Although there is a new crop of questions you'll have to answer.

When is the baby due?
Do you know if it is a boy or a girl?
Are you going to bottle feed or breast feed?
Do you have any names picked out?
Can I touch your belly? (Although this one is rarely asked. Women just do it).

Not only will you be asked these questions repeatedly, but whether you like it or not you will get to hear pregnancy stories from other moms. Apparently, not only does a pregnant woman "glow" she also gives off a vibe that says, "I want to hear your pregnancy story even though I have no idea who are and I did not ask."

The good news is that you only have nine months of this. The bad news is that when the baby is born you have a new set of questions and stories to deal with.

Learning all kinds of things

Two days into the school year and Rion has learned his first swear word. Yesterday Torii wanted to play on the playground after school and we did for a little while. There were two older boys there and I heard a couple of swear words, but thankfully Rion didn't hear them. Today we drove so instead of sitting in a long line of cars, we played until the traffic was gone. The two older boys arrived at the playground shortly after we did. Thirty seconds later, Rion ran up to tell me the boy had said, "there's a f***in baby." I told Rion that is not a nice word to use and thankfully the boy's mother showed up shortly after. I knew Rion would learn swear words at school, but I just didn't think it would happen so soon. Now I am thinking about all the things I learned on the playground and I'm wincing. It was on the playground I learned the truth about Santa and what grown-ups did in bed at night. Hopefully it's a long long time before I have to deal with those subjects.

So many choices

I was looking at Rion's school lunch menu and was quite impressed. It certainly is different from when I was in school. One day they get Shrimp Poppers. I'm not sure what that is or if they're any good, but that was something we never had in school. Students also get to choose between three main dishes: a hot meal, a sandwich or a chef salad. We had that choice in high school, but never before that. At least now I don't have to pack a lunch for him ever because I would pack a sandwich and that is offered everyday. The school system also participates in "offer versus serve" in their school lunches. Students are offered at least five different items and although they are encouraged to take all five, they can refuse two things. I don't think we were ever allowed to refuse something at lunch. And if we did, I'm pretty sure we got a double serving of that food. And if there was one thing you didn't want, it was a double serving of a school lunch.

First day of school

Today was Rion's first day of school. When we arrived at his classroom he said hi to the teacher and immediately got settled in. He didn't even say goodbye to me. When I picked him up I asked him how his first day was and he said it was long. He also said he missed me. What a sweetie. It was a nice day so we walked. I thought that would give us time to talk about his day. He said he had recess two times, had pizza for lunch and learned how to open his milk carton. He also said he got to hand out papers and hold the door open for everyone. Rion also picked on Torii the entire way home. He must of felt like he missed out on picking on Torii all day so he had to catch up.

Fun with a box

I think I have found the perfect birthday present for Torii. I am going to buy myself a new washer and dryer and let him have the boxes. He'll love it!

He's not easy...

Yesterday Rion and I ran some errands together. I just wanted to get his hair cut before school started and let him pick out a birthday present for Torii, but it ended up as an afternoon for just the two of us to hang out. I rarely get to do anything with just Rion and with school starting it will probably happen even less often. So I took the opportunity today to just go out with him. As I was getting him in the car I asked him what he thought Torii would like for his birthday and he said, "I don't know. He's not easy." We wandered around Target for awhile and found a few small things. Rion thought he would like the Word World play dough set, which he is probably right, but I vetoed that idea. With Cordelia exploring like she is, it is not the time for play dough. After the haircut, we wandered again around Walmart. Not only did we have to find gifts from us, but my grandma also gave me money to get him something from her. It took some time but we finally made some decisions. Maybe I should have just gotten him some gift cards and he could pick out his own gift. I did forget the one gift he said he wanted, which was the Cocoa Puffs. I mean how do you shop for a boy who wants cereal, but no toys?