Transformation to Prom Queen

Suzy at 10 AM, getting ready for the big day

Cathy working her magic on Suzy's hair

Just Perfect

Makeup time with the Estee Lauder lady

Can she look any more fabulous?

Nails, oh my gosh these folks were so slow. We were almost late to our own party

All dolled up

Close up

Ready to go break hearts

Only 10 more days until .....

AND

Suzy is in the East Cobber

Suzy and her Winter Guard are featured this month in the East Cobber magazine. They have come home with two second place trophies in the past 2 competitions. At the East Coweta competition they missed first place by only a tenth of a point. It's a really good show, Danny and I were really impressed at how far these girls have come in only a few short months. Their final perfromance and state Championships are in Macon on April 5, if anyone wants to come and cheer Suzy on.

Cooper and Fancy Toes

I promised myself I'd start writing down all the cute things Cooper does so I can remember them/ embarrass him later on.

The other night while Coops was playing in his bath, I thought I would do a little bit of multitasking and paint my toes. Of course the moment I opened the bottle and started painting, all of his attention was on me.

"whatchadoin?" .... "what's that?"...."do Hooper's toes!"...."Mommy, do Hooper's toes!!!"

I tried to explain to him that only girls had fancy toes. Little boys played football and little girls made their toes pretty. After examining my toes and the bottle of nail polish (which I purposely placed up on a very high on the shelf), he moved on to trying to disassemble the binoculars.

A day later, I was upstairs folding and putting away our clothes. I suddenly realized he was not in the room anymore and it was very quiet. Note to all: when Cooper is out of view and you can't hear him talking or singing, Chaos must be happening some where close by!!

Well, I found Mr. Cooper in Suzy's bathroom. Cooper and his Fancy Toes and a bottle of Suzy's nail polish. I wanted to be upset with him for getting into something I told him not to touch but when he is beaming ear to ear and saying......."Look Mommy...Fancy Toes!" , you just gotta laugh at the situation. We had a lovely shade of plum all over his feet and toes, the bathroom rug and on the cabinet. Thank goodness I caught him fairly early and most of the globs of polish wiped right off.

I wish I would have gotten some photos of the event, but it was a race against time to get the polish wiped up before it had time to set. Cooper has not asked for Fancy toes since, but I'm sure there is another fun little adventure right around the corner

Very busy weekend

Mall of Georgia

Coops and I went to meet Grandma Sheryl and Papa Farmer on Saturday to look for Easter clothes. We had a really great time. Sales Galore!! Coops ended up getting a blue/white seersucker suit with pink shirt/tie. He is going to be looking fabulous on Easter. Coops also went on his first Merry-go-round ride. He was quite fearless and completely loved it. The pic below was taken from my camera phone so it's a bit blurry.

Dan leaves for N'awlins

Danny left Sunday afternoon for Slidell, LA (right outside of New Orleans). He has a client who owns a home there that was in need of Danny's special touch. He is there today and hopefully coming back tonight depending on if they can get everything they want accomplished and the weather holds up. They are predicting some pretty major thunderstorms there tonight, we should be seeing these same storms tomorrow afternoon. Everyone please say a special prayer for Danny and his guys that they make it home safely. Here is Coops was helping Danny get his truck wired to the trailer for the trip.

Physics anyone?

Suzy Q had her first meeting with her Physics tutor last night. Things went pretty well, and we hope this is what she needs to get her grades up. The guy (Guillermo Goldzstein) is a physics professor at Georgia Tech, and is tutoring quite a few Wheeler students.

If only physics was this easy!

Updates..

It's been 3 weeks since the Lenten season started.
3 weeks without Coca-Colas, Cheese, and Chocolate.

I have to admit I feel better. My pants are much looser (but that may also be a direct effect of our flu episode). I've had a hard time with goals lately. I'm great at setting them, but my follow through hasn't been all that tremendous. Just 3 more weeks though! I'm pretty confident I can do this one. Suzy is also doing a super job of not eating chocolate, her friends think it is fun to tempt her all the time. I can't say that same for Cooper, he has had chocolate on the mind. He runs around the house as soon as we get home every evening shouting "candy corn! candy corn". This deciphered, means " I want chocolate now!!!" I cannot even imagine what kind of chocolate high this kid is going to be on Easter morning.

Commuting 45 minutes to work every morning gives you time to think. I was thinking this morning, if I could stay away from things that start with the letter "C", maybe we would have a much healthier diet. Think about it with me... Crackers... Cookies....Chocolate...Cream Cheese...Cinnamon rolls...Candy. Of course, there are exceptions like carrots and cantaloupe, but it seems to make pretty good sense.

I vowed at 12:01 AM on Jan 1, that 2008 would be the year of the McEver. It's been a slow start and life keeps getting us sidetracked from doing truly exceptional things. It's only February though, and I have 10 more months to make this year quite memorable. With that in mind I think I found a mission statement for the year. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you". I'm going to start doing that. No crazy stuff like jumping in a pit of rattlesnakes, but small things I feel uncomfortable with. Maybe that person I feel uneasy around is actually has a great story to tell, or perhaps I'll join something at church that I feel totally intimidated about. You get the picture.

Oh yeah and I promise more pictures up here soon.

PS...Does anyone want to plan a beach trip this summer? Suzy and I really need a break :)

Normalcy?

Hooray!
It looks like all has calmed down in our little part of the world for a while.

Danny and I are both feeling more like ourselves again. Suzy is over her fever and Coops luckily missed out on this illness. It's good to be up and about again, I was beginning to grow very weary of the insides of our house.This weekend was very low key. I think I might have left the house twice to go get groceries and help Suzy pick out some prom shoes.


We did finally find an alarm company we felt comfortable with. We were sort of scared off at first because the first company to come out to our house ended up quoting us a price that was at least double what they had said on the phone. Being that our house is not already "fitted" with a system, I assumed a little bit more but not as much as they wanted. We decided to call one more place before putting the system on the back burner. Lucky for us, this guy was a broker for several alarm companies. He came in at half what the other companies were asking and included a fire alarm too. They came out today and installed the system. I gotta admit it's a little intimidating, all those buttons to push and all these procedures you have to go through. Anyone want to guess who will set off the alarm first?

Cooper and his weapon of mass destruction

Oh my gosh, this chair is part of a table/chair set mom and papa farmer got him for his birthday. The kid spends 90% of his time carrying the chairs from place to place around the kitchen looking for stuff to get into. So far, we've rearranged all the cutlery drawers twice, poured honey all over the chair/floor and dumped the entire jar of fish food in the tank. He's already took the chair over to the alarm keypad but luckily for now, he can't reach.

When it rains...it pours!!

The title today is a reference not only to our weather the past couple of days but also to the kind of luck we seem to be having lately.

We were robbed today.
There is nothing quite like working everyday for what you have only to have a piece of sewer crap come along and take your stuff.
Thank goodness they only took some equipment off of Danny's truck, and didn't come in the house.
But still, I just feel so darn violated. A little angry and more hopeless than anything.

Coops and I had gone to get his haircut, which looks awfully cute by the way. Danny was at home upstairs when he doorbell rang. He started down the stairs and noticed a truck in the driveway (Blue Chevy Work Truck). By the time he got the the door, the guys were in the truck speeding down the road with Danny's equipment in the back. He wasn't able to get a liscense tag or anything. We filed a police report, but there is not really anything else they are going to do. Such is our world today! They got away with $1000 dollars worth of blowers. They will probably go pawn them somewhere and have enough crack money for the week.

If there is one blesssing in it all, I am glad Coops and I weren't at home. What would they have done if we had answered the door??

We are meeting with a guy about a home security system tomorrow. This world just isn't safe anymore folks!

95

Typical morning for me, running around as usual, trying to corral Cooper while moving towards getting out the door. I glanced down at my watch to see how late we already were, and took time to notice the date. February 21, it would have been Grandma's 95th birthday. Wow, just wow. Who knew a silly little date could trigger so many memories of her.

I started thinking about last year when we took the fruit tart from Harry's up to the nursing home to celebrate with her. She was so proud to have us all up there with her. (link to the blog). I hope she knows we are thinking about her today, even if she isn't physically with us anymore. Remembering who she was and that twinkle she would get in her eyes...... We love you Grandma.

I would love to go home and have a piece of birthday cake in her honor, but to be honest the appetite just isn't quite back yet. Dan and I are back at work, but it's taking more than a couple of days to get over this "crud" we have. My voice is still missing, and I know Danny has had some severe sinus pain. Suz, well she's curled up in bed wondering why she feels so icky. I think Cooper must have some super-human daycare enhanced immune system, because he is wilder than ever. You only really comprehend how much energy a toddler has when you have none yourself.

Quarantined

So, Dan and I both have the flu.

I was thinking that my trusty flu shot would keep me healthy but

Low and behold....

The flu had my number.

Currently Dan is on day 3 and I just started getting a fever tonight.

This is miserable, please use Germ X and wash your hands constantly, it's widespread in Georgia right now and .........

This is no fun!!!!

Please pray we can keep Suzy and Coops healthy.

There is nothing that worries me more than either one of them sick

A very sick Aims :(

Happy Valentines Day

I guess it's about time for a post since I haven't really been updating that much lately.

We do not have any big plans for Valentines Day this year, it really snuck up on us. I did not even get cards out like I normally do. Last night, Coops and I made some personalized Valentines Day cards but I probably won't get them out until tomorrow. (It's the thought that counts..right?)

Suzy is at school until 7 tonight practicing for winter guard and then has 2 tests tomorrow so I don't think we will be seeing much of her tonight. Poor kid, has had something going on every night this week. I know I could not do it. I think she is looking forward to the 4 day long weekend more than anyone.

Cooper on the other hand as turned into the Valentines Cassonova. We picked out two boxes of candy for him to take his teachers today. As soon as we got to Clifton School he wanted me to get his candies. Then he ran up to both Miss Simone and Miss Candice with a big smile on his face and gave them their treats. Of course, they were eating it up. He's such a smooth operator! We have to stop by Ansley's house on the way home so he can give her a Valentines too! He's so excited, he keeps saying choc-co-layt over and over again.

Make sure you tell someone you love them today!

Van Halen rocks the McEvers

For Christmas this year, Danny got tickets to see Van Halen live. This is a reunion that has been years in the making and one we could not pass up seeing. It was well worth it, they ROCKED.

It was very surreal experience after we finally made it to Phillips Arena. The whole arena was filled with middle-agers out reliving their youth. Everyone was having a good time, I don't think anyone sat down the entire show (except for the lady in front of me who was obviously there because of her husband). The music was very loud and you could not always hear David Lee Roth, but it was still amazing! I had never appreciated or saw someone play the guitar like Eddie Van Halen did. He did a 15 minute guitar solo. All of the guys were in really good shape too, washboard stomachs. They certianly did not look like the were in their early 50's.

The show lasted about 2 hours and was full of energy from the first song until the last encore which was JUMP.

We didn't want to leave when it was over, we just wanted to hold on to that rock n roll feeling just a little bit longer. Suzy is threatening now to drop out of school and become a Van Halen groupie. While I know she is just kidding, wouldn't it be fun to do that just for a little while?

Wheeler High School Winter Guard 2008

Suzy is doing Wheeler's Winter Guard again this year. Practices and Competitions take up an enormous amount of her time, but all in all I think she really likes participating. The are doing a "vegasy" number by Micheal Buble called "Feeling Good". We went last weekend to their second performance and they did really well. The Guard ended up placing 3rd in their division.



They've got a couple more Saturday shows, let me know if you are interested and I'll try to figure out where they are at.

Fat Tuesday/ Lent

No, we didn't have to show body parts for the the beads! Harry Bissetts was actually handing them out on Tuesday night to whomever walked through the door

For Lent this year I am giving up three things. Diet Cokes, Cheese and Chocolate. I think cheese is going to be the toughest as almost everything I eat has some kind of cheese on it. But isn't that the point? To give up something you dearly love for the lenten season. It's all about the willpower. Regardless, I'm already planning for easter dinner: we'll have mac an cheese, cheese pizzas, quesidillas and cheese sticks. Doesn't that sound yummy?

I wanna be a Producer....

After watching the movie musical at least half a million times, Suzy and I finally got to see the stage production of The Producers. (Suzy's Christmas gift)

We had so much fun, I don't think there is anything close to seeing a musical performed live. The show simply took a life of it's own. We were worried that the stage show would not live up to the movie but we worried for no reason. The lead actors owned the roles of Leo and Max and their vocal talent was unmatched. I won't bore you with the details because I don't think many folks have seen the show, but the phyiscal comedy and the scene with the piegons were my most favorite parts. I think Suzy really ejoyed Carmen Ghia's performance.

I hate that we missed seeing the show on broadway but it closed last spring. I am so happy they have kept it going on a off-broadway tour. It is also still playing in Vegas. Trip anyone?

Unbelievable! 2 snows in 3 days!

Saturday morning we woke up to snow falling once again. I'm beginning to think Grandma Louise may have put in a special request with the big guy. Having this many snows in one season is unheard of, much less in only three days.

Going on a ride to see what is falling

At the store to pick up the necessities

Everyone else had the same idea. Milk and bread for everyone!

Snowy roads

Even Buddy was having a good time bouncing around

Our Camilla plant

Much more snow that a couple of days earlier, though the roads held up once again

Coops trying out his snow gloves

Catching snow flakes in his mouth

Buddy hugs!

Taking Sam for a walk

Scene outside the sun room

Playing on the back deck

Doughnuts anyone?

Mini Snowman

Trying to throw a snowball

SNOW!!

Suzy and I were absolutely GIDDY, this is the first snow in Marietta in at least 4 years

We hurried home to Danny and Coops so we could play in the white stuff

Isn't our house so pretty covered with snow?

Cooper's first snow, he couldn't believe what was coming out of the sky

Happy snow dance!

Suz was praying for school to be closed, unfortunately it did not stick to the road so Cobb county did not cancel school.

Coops did not want to go in, I think he would have stayed out all evening if we would have let him

Ahhh mom, can we go out in the snow again??

On the Square

Our wonderful neighbors Melissa and Chris took Danny out to eat for his 38th birthday last week. While we were up on the square the kids discovered a train in the playground and the fun ensued.

Coops checking everything out

Suzy and Danny ready for some cajun food

Carter showing Chris the train

Suzy in jail??

Three great things about today...

1. Today is Danny's Birthday! He's 38. If you have a chance today, be sure and give him a call and sing Happy Birthday to him.
2. Suzy got a B in Algebra. I got a text first thing this morning from her (first day back at school, they received their grades from last semester). I gotta tell you, I am super proud of her. It only goes to show you how far a little perseverance and alot of drive can go. I am now utterly convinced that little miss Suzy can do anything she sets her mind to. "Go0oo Suzy.... Goooo Suzy.... Go!"
3. UGA is number 2 in the final AP poll! Another example of not giving up. I thought (and you know you did too) that our season was over after that loss to the Viles. Instead it was the start of an amazing come back. Guess I need to start saving money for those season tickets. I think 2008 may be the year of the Dawg.

Christmas Lights

Well, I got down all the Christmas lights today. It was bittersweet, I wish we could have them up all year long but then they wouldn't be as special at Christmastime. It was quite a chore and kept me busy for most of the afternoon. I've always heard you will have bad luck if you have your Christmas decorations up on New Years day, I'm not sure if this is true or just an old wives tale. Truth is, I'm not taking any chances. 2007 was a rough year in many ways, I want as much luck going into 2008 as possible!