Gone But Not Forgotten

I still can't quite wrap my brain around the fact that Grandma Corah (aka Gram) is gone. I am sure it will hit me like a ton of bricks come Monday. I am so incredibly glad that my children got to meet her and spend some time with her. I don't know if they will remember any of it, but I will. What treasured and priceless memories. I have the one item I cherish the most from my grandmother, her piano and a watch which was her first gift from my grandfather. I don't want to lead anyone to believe that it's about the 'stuff.' It's the time........those summer days spent at "Corah City."
There were the treks to the pool, us kids fighting over who could back the car out of the garage, the excursions to the creek behind the house, begging to sleep outside on the porch, the constant baggering on Gram's part to "get the hair out of your eyes. Let me go get a bobby pin.", realizing I had never met someone so frugal. Who saves perm papers or reuses teabags? Those are the things I will remember and treasure. I even saw her once cut open a toothpaste container.

The rule that you must always go to the bathroom before you go anywhere. I remember going for Saturday visits with her to visit her mom. Gram wasn't the best driver and I always got a slight case of car sickness. Thank goodness Grandma Kio didn't live too far away. This is the woman who taught me how to make biscuits from scratch. We used to shape them with a glass.

The the saddest part about death, the change........the fact that nothing will ever be the same. Nothing will be the same at that house or on that porch. I can't imagine how Gramp is holding up. Afterall, when you are married to someone for 61 years........ Well, sis and I are headed to PA in the morning, to say good bye not only to our grandmother, but to an era gone by.

Braggin'

I meant to do this on my previous post, but I got a little side-tracked. We have now made it through nine weeks of school and I am totally and completely amazed at the things Tug is learning in kindergarten. He is learning way more than I ever did at that age I know. He is READING for crying out loud. He brings a reading folder home once every 7 to 10 days. It's amazing. He is writing sentences, doing math. They really keep these kids hopping. I mean, I know I work in education, but I really don't know what goes on in the elementary realm. It's like a different world. It's kind of sad, T and I thought we had a least one more year of the "spelling game." Not so much.
I'll say, "T, I am going to take a b-a-t-h." (Every mommy wants to get 30 minutes of uninterrupted time every once in awhile.) Well
Tug says, "That spells bath." What in the world???? And I could go on from here, but you get the point.

On a sadder note for Tug.....as we all know...Halloween is only hours away. Nor-nor has a "party" at daycare whereas Tug didn't really have a 'party.' A little disappointing for him the poor guy. This goes back to his first few days of kindergarten when he said, "There aren't that many toys to play with." Oh the angst of childhood.

Let's Go Buff-a-lo

T and Tug went to the Carolina Panthers game this past Sunday. T is convinced three quarters of the fans were Buffalo fans. I used to be a huge Buffalo fan so I have to say I am kind of glad they won. They had a really great time. Got out there early and did some extreme tailgaiting. It was quite the experience......the first NFL game for both.

On a side note......I cannot believe that it's almost November. Halloween on Saturday. Yeah!!! Pictures soon to follow of Tinkerbell and Spiderman. Then into the holiday season............

SC State Fair

We headed to Columbia on Saturday for the state fair. We spent some time with Great Granny and Pawpaw went to the fair with us. We rode a few rides, had lunch (which we had to take out a small loan for), saw all sorts of animals and watched a portion of a puppet show. We had a good time. I jest about taking out a loan, but seriously, why does everything have to be so stinkin' expensive. I mean, really, a bag of cotton candy is 5 DOLLARS. I just can't seem to get over it. We are ready for Halloween around here!!!

Happy Birthday to the Bestest Nana Ever

Nana is always up for a project with the kiddos. They were painting 'baby' punkins here. Happy Birthday Nana!! Enjoy your weekend in Gatlinburg!!!

Huntin' for Punkins

I love it when I can finally get good pictures of these two together.

We picked three pumpkins and then 2 littler ones. The little ones will be colored with marker. I promise this year not to be too hasty and carve our pumpkins too early. I always get too excited about doing it and then they are never around for Halloween.

So, what a crazy week this last week was. How can we possibly be almost to the middle of October? It doesn't seem possible. I was very glad when we got to Saturday morning and Tug's t-ball game was cancelled. But don't tell him that. I ashamed to admit that if all the laundry were put together in one pile it probably would have been taller than me. I lost count, but I think I did 7 loads yesterday. Never has it gotten that bad around here. But, yeah you do what you have to do. Fall festival at Tug's school was a great success. Mom and I had a great system worked out for the bracelet/ticket table. Sorry no pictures. But speaking of which, Tug took great school pictures. I can't wait to get them back. I get Nor's proofs this Friday. Can't wait to see how they turned out. Despite the busyness, I do love this time of year.

An October Post

Wow, I can't believe that it is already October. Of course I love the fall. But thus begins the really busy time of year. Here is some random news.
~Tug got his jersey and hat today. He is #4 for the Cubs. So cute. His first official game is this Thursday. Which by the way this coming week is going to be CRAZY.
~The fall festival for Tug's school is this coming Friday. Should be fun.
~We are about to go to an awesome dinner at *Mickey and Mooch.* Then probably to do a little Christmas shopping. I like to do a little bit at a time, then it's not so overwhelming. Besides, who can afford to do it all at once??
~Tug got his first kindergarten progress report this week. He's right and track and loves school. In fact, he and Nor-nor play school. It's so cute to listen to them. He'll tell her not to use 20 squirts of soap to wash her hands. No doubt an instruction he gets.
~Nor-Nor is loving dance. I stayed last week instead of going next door to *Hardees* and the sound of those tap shoes from the other side of the door was hilarious.
~Love the fact that the air conditioner is not running. This is an electric bill I can look forward to.
~We'll be going to the Columbia state fair in a couple of weeks. We are excited about that especially since we didn't luck out with the Iredell Co. Fair.
~Went this morning for my monthly trip to Walley-World. They were having AWESOME sales on clothes for next summer. Everything I got was either 1 or 2 dollars. I got Tug 5 shirts, Nor 2 short sets (1 with a pair of flip-flops), a couple of shirts and 2 summer dresses. I felt like I hit the jack pot. But I don't think there is anyone else on earth other than Amanda who understands my love of a sale. :)
That's it for now. Enjoy the weekend.