More Fan Day Fun

Did I mention that there was reportedly 4,500 people at fan day, and they weren't even playing a game? Did I also mention that it was about 98 degrees outside with a humidity of like 125%? It literally felt like the atmosphere would burst into rain at any moment. Come to think of it, it DID BURST INTO RAIN a couple of times. All of this means that the three of us felt like wet, sweaty, heat monger creatures by the time we got to the end of the line to see Coach Chizik. Tommy was able to pull this look off because he's three, and cute. I, on the other hand, looked like I had been in a sauna with all my clothes on. Coach Chizik was located in a nice air-conditioned room and when we walked in the door, there was a photographer lady there beside him. As soon as Tommy started walking towards Coach she started snapping away. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I backed up as much as possible, while still trying to be near Tommy in case he had one of those stranger danger meltdowns. The Coach was very nice and signed everything we pushed in front of him and posed for a few photos of our own. As we were walking away the photographer lady approached us and said that she was with the Birmingham News and wanted to know if she could use the photos she took in the paper. She also wanted to know Tommy's name and age, my name and where we were from. To be honest, I was kind of smitten with the fact that Tommy's photo might appear in the largest paper in the state and happily agreed to her request and answered all her questions. Later, it hit me, if she was taking photos of Tommy, then why did she want to know MY name??

That night when we got home, I checked the Birmingham News website and found one photo of Coach and Tommy, and (yep, you guessed it) one photo that had Tommy, Coach and me in it. No problem, I thought, there is no way they will use that photo of the three of us over that super cute one of Tommy looking up at Coach as he signs a football. And I was right. Morning came, we found a Birmingham News, opened it up, and found the adorable photo of Tommy and Coach (without me, THANK GOD) for all of the state to see.

Feeling quite proud, I drove to work ready to show off to all my co-workers the newspaper with this photo in it:

Super Cute Tommy & Coach Chizik Photo taken by The Birmingham News

On the way to the office, I noticed that my blackberry was all abuzz with emails. Not being one to check emails while driving, I refused to look at them until I got to the office. As soon as I walked in, the first thing that someone said to me was "Good Morning, Have you checked your email? No? Well, you might want to."

I opened my inbox to find about 10 different emails with a reply to the same subject line of "Famous Employee". I opened up the first one that I had received that morning to find nothing but a link to this photo:

Tommy and Coach, with heat monger creature in the background taken by The Birmingham News

Sigh.... Apparently, one of my coworkers in our Birmingham office found this photo online and emailed it to EVERYONE IN THE COMPANY. Needless to say, by the time I got to work, this photo was plastered in every common area in my office building. I'm *still* finding copies of it lying around that I have to throw away.

Mascot Weekend

We were exceptionally busy this weekend. The Biscuits don't have too many home games left this year, so we decided to go watch them on Friday night one last time. Tommy was uber excited to go to the baseball game and see Big Mo again, and HEAVAN FORBID that we walk by good ole Mo with out taking a picture with him (even though we already have PLENTY of photos of Big Mo).

Luckily for Tommy, the Buckmasters Expo was in town and having a VIP night at the Biscuits game. This means that we had a mascot twofor because the Buckmasters mascot Bucky was at the game too!

To be honest, I'm a little confused on Bucky as a mascot. I mean, Buckmasters is a organization for hunters, but their mascot is a large buck wearing a hunter's orange vest???? (Just a warning Bucky, don't trust those hunters, they are NOT concerned about your safety. Trust me on this one.) Tommy got a big kick out of seeing him anyways....

Sunday was Auburn University's Fan Day. I think that most of you that know me can appreciate the fact that I am a college football fan. And like any good college football fan, it is my solemn duty to brainwash my child into the traditions and culture of my team. So for the last three years in a row, Tommy, Sissy and I have made the pilgrimage to Auburn for Fan Day. This year Auburn has a new head coach, so that meant standing in a ridiculously long line to see the new coach.

Of course, the guy that Tommy was really looking forward to seeing was Auburn's mascot Aubie....

My boss' daughter is on the Auburn University Dance Team called Tiger Paws this year. They were at Fan Day signing autographs for the kids too, so we stopped by to say hello. These girls were so incredibly sweet! They took the time to talk to Tommy and really made him feel special. I think that he enjoyed seeing them as much as anything at Fan Day.

And to round out our tour de mascots who should we find, but one of my personal favorites, the Chick-fil-a Cow....

More on AU Fun Day later............

Weekend Stuff

Just another uneventful weekend for the Norris clan. Montgomery has a minor league baseball team called the Montgomery Biscuits. Saturday was Autograph/Fireworks night so we all decided to go see the game. Tommy really likes going to the Biscuits games. They have a great playground with inflatables and he likes watching the fireworks. He even likes the Biscuits mascot, Big Mo.

Note: I have no idea what Big Mo is supposed to be, but the kids seem to like him, as evidenced by the line we had to stand in to get this photo.

Then on Sunday, we celebrated Lexie's birthday, but I've already written about that. Otherwise, my weekend was spent attempting to slay the never dying monster which is the laundry. Pretty boring. But, I needed a boring weekend, and I loved it!

One final thing. Might anyone care to explain this????

I found this little jewel on my camera amongst the bazillion or so other photos on there that I have yet to delete. I mean come on, that's just ridiculous. And amazing. On several different levels. Both socks.... WOW. I have a couple of suspects in mind, however I know of only one that would take photographic documentation of such crimes. (I'm looking at you, Sissy....)

Spidey Shoes

Sooooo, Tommy got new shoes last week. They have spiderman on them. And they light up. Apparently that's all the rage in 3 yr old footwear, because Tommy would have nothing to do with any other shoes in the store once he saw these bad boys. Luckily for me they were on sale at Target for 12 bucks. Unluckily, these particular fancy-scmancy Spidey ligth 'em up shoes are white. (Ok, so maybe not completely white, but a lot of white areas anyways) And you know how I feel about white tennis shoes. What's that? You don't know? Well then, I'll tell you. White tennis shoes, especially in the hands (or feet) of a pre-schooler are a pain in my.... well, let's just say that they're a pain in my foot! Why all the animosity towards children's footwear? Why, oh why, would I be employing reverse discrimination techniques towards my kid's shoes?

I have a theory. Somehow white leather is a attractant for red mud. I almost have it all worked out. It must have something to do with the red mud atoms being negatively charged and the white leather atoms being positively charged to a higher degree....... I could go on, but you get the point. Those shoes get dirty faster than Spider Man can can shoot a web! (Which I've been told is very fast) I've tried all kinds of tricks. I've put them in the washing machine, I've tried scrubbing them, I've even tried some far flung ideas like using baby wipes to try and clean them. But, alas, they just never do look the same. Besides, who in the world has times to scrub tennis shoes everyday anyways??

But, Tommy LOVES them. We've had them for less than a week and twice already he has asked to put them on when he woke up in the morning. Coincidentally, they had a spiderman shirt on sale at Target that very same day. So, Tommy got an entire Spidey ensemble for about $15!

Apparently, we are going through a bit of a superhero phase at our house......

Happy Birthday Sissy!!!

Monday, August 10th is my sister Lexie's (aka Sissy) 26th birthday. We celebrated her birthday today with a sister's day at the movies and a trip to the Nestle Toll House Cookie Store.

Happy Birthday Lex, and thanks for always being the cool Aunt!

I have more stuff to share about this week's events, however that will have to wait until later. For now it's off to bed!

Favorite T-Shirt: Part Deux

Tommy wet his bed last night and we didn’t discover it until this morning when he woke up. It was already 7:00 and we were running late (I know that you are totally shocked) so that put us even more behind because we had to give Tommy a bath. Baby raccoon was a casualty of this bed wetting incident and also needed a bath.

Luckily enough for me, only his tail got wet, so I didn’t have to wash the entire stuffed animal. Only his tail got a bath...

As soon as he got home this afternoon he said “Oh, my Baby Raccoon!!” He did not pass go, he did not collect $200 dollars, and he most certainly did not stop and give his mamma a hug, he went straight for Baby Raccoon, and has not put him down since. Thank goodness his tail was dry by then!

I was able to avoid the Batman shirt dilemma this morning by distracting him with a new Superman shirt....

Which he did not like nearly as much as Batman, but it would do in a pinch. It’s actually the shirt I wanted to buy first. I’ve seen an old picture of a little TJ striking a Superman pose, and I thought that it would be cute to get one of Tommy too. By the time he got home he was telling me about his Superman shirt. I think that it has become his favorite one, right behind Batman, of course.

Standing for truth, justice, and the American way…..

So I started this blog in January, and here it is the very end of July, and not even one update. Great job, huh? Well, I’m not crafty enough for scrapbooking, and I don’t keep a journal (at least not consistently) so I’m going give this whole blog thing another try. Now that my Mom is internetting, I figure she, and a few other family members and friends might like to look at it every once in a while. Who knows, maybe in a few weeks, I’ll be up to a whopping five followers!

If you’re reading this, then you probably already know that I have a (now) 3-year old son named Tommy. I am a full time working mom and have been married to TJ for almost seven years now. We also have an English Bulldog named Cracker. I’m going to try to use this blog as a journal, or record, of what life is like for my clan and me. I’ll try to update it a few times a week (no promises).

So, I suppose that I shall start with this weekend. Not too eventful, just another weekend at home. I had a coupon for Old Navy, so I bought Tommy and myself some clothes. (Actually, I bought Tommy a bunch of clothes and got myself two shirts, which were on sale, and immediately felt guilty about it.) One of the shirts that I got Tommy had a picture of Batman on it. As soon as he saw it, I heard a loud “BATMAAANNN!!!” screech, and I knew two things immediately:1^st that this was going to soon be his favorite shirt, and 2^nd that this could mean trouble. He asked to put it on instantly, I told him that he had to wait, he then proceeded to ask me four-thousand times (ok, maybe only like 7 times, but who’s counting) before he went to bed if he could wear the Batman shirt. The INSTANT this child opened his sleepy eyes this morning at 7:00 am, the very first thing he said was, “Can I wear Batman now?” So, ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you: Tommy and his Batman shirt.

I just love how toddlers immediately fall in love with certain things. They can get so much joy from a simple object like a toy or t-shirt. I dread telling him in the morning that he cannot wear his Batman shirt to school because it’s dirty. I may try getting him to put it in the washing machine, we’ll see if that works with three-year old logic.

TJ’s mom and dad (aka, Nana and Peapaw) came for a visit today. We did the usual lunch at the Café, and a trip to the Bass Pro Shop. While strolling towards the women’s clothes section in Bass Pro Shop, we happened upon a toy display which contained a myriad of assorted woodland creatures, of the stuffed animal toy variety. They had every stuffed animal that I could think of, rabbits, foxes, horses, dogs, bobcats, deer (this is the bass pro shop, after all), even the old standard teddy bear.

On the very top shelf, lay a small raccoon toy. Tommy pointed to it and said “Baby raccoon!” There I was, somehow impressed that my 3-year-old can identify a raccoon, and without thinking, I retrieved the toy from the top shelf handed it to my son. If I had been in my right mind, I would have known that this was a mistake. This boy carried that raccoon throughout the store with a tenacity of a mamma raccoon protecting her own baby. Every time one of us tried to even look at the raccoon Tommy would respond with “No, Mamma, this is TOMMY’s baby raccoon! Can we take it to Tommy’s house now?” (Note to self: Perhaps I’ve used the ole sneak-it-back-on-the-self-while-the-boy-is-not-looking trick one too many times.) Fortunately for Tommy, such pleading was exceptionally adorable today and far too much for Nana (or myself) to bear. Thanks to Nana and Peapaw, Tommy is the very proud owner of a brand new baby raccoon.
So far, he has taken a nap, ate a snack, watched WALL-E, and overall been completely attached to this stuffed animal. I suppose that, the baby raccoon is as good a purchase as we’ve ever made at the Bass Pro Shop. Tommy sure is enjoying it!

Tommy hasn't put that raccoon down yet!

As for Cracker, he just doesn't know what to think of all this.....

More to come later..... maybe.