Our Moment to SPEAK NOW

Karson and I finally made it to Taylor Swift's SPEAK NOW concert. Whoop, whoop! It has definitely been a journey. Read my July 6, post titled "Song of the South" to get up to speed with our Taylor saga. I had tank tops made for the summer concert we planned to attend. Thankfully the weather has still be pleasant enough for us to sport them in September (with jeans, of course).

After getting all dolled up, we took off for Nashville around 5 p.m. yesterday afternoon. I figured two hours would give us plenty of time to get there. The concert started at 7 p.m. After quick stops for gas and some Wendy's, we rolled into Nashville right around 6:45 and were stuck in downtown traffic. Ick. The concert was at Bridgestone Arena. I knew we could find some parking fairly close but was concerned when I saw ALL the traffic. Parking downtown is a nightmare. I had a parking plan in mind (based on prior internet research) but quickly squashed it when I saw the digital clock in the Camry ticking away and bumper to bumper cars. I knew we wouldn't miss much if we were a little late, but we were SO excited. I made a quick left on 8th Avenue and found a really great lot about 1 block from the concert. Whew!

I can't think of the last BIG concert I attended, but I am very certain that it was NOTHING like this one. Nashville was hopping. The vibes that night reminded me so much of our trip to Disney a few years ago. Everything was so magical and euphoric. We soaked the whole experience up.

We even walked the red carpet. Karson told me a few days before the concert how lucky she felt and that she couldn't believe she was seeing her very first celebrity. Love her!
Need to Breatheopened up the show. I had no idea who they were and had to ask the 10th grader sitting next to me. I only recognized one of their songs called "Something Beautiful". They did a fantastic job.

Waiting for Taylor...We love TAYLOR!!! I don't think we were alone!

SPARKS FLY

YOU BELONG WITH ME

OUR SONG

BACK TO DECEMBER, Karson's favorite

Taylor came into the crowd at one point during the show and made her way to the other end of the arena (our end) which was practically a stone's throw from where we were sitting. A tree came down from the ceiling where she sat and played about 3 or 4 different slower songs. It was awesome!

SPEAK NOW

The crowd went INsanely wild when Taylor started talking about meeting up with some of her friends in Nashville which included Haley from Paramore. Haley came out and rocked Misery Business. Very awesome moment in the night!

I wish I could say we lasted the ENTIRE show, but we didn't =(. Karson got incredibly tired and started getting cold around 10:30 at which point she also had to pee which meant we had to climb over about 20 people to go the restroom. Plus, (and I'm not complaining just adding) our section consisted of about 6 rows. We were in the 2nd row. There was one row in front of us that had a retaining wall and rail. I'm not kidding when I say our ENTIRE section was sitting down but a pack on girls directly in front of us. There were about 5 of them and they stood up the entire time. I can understand standing for an hour, even 2 hours, but after 3 hours, come on! I'm tired of standing up, and I KNOW Karson is tired. Half of the little girls in our section were already out cold. NOPE, not the gals in front of us. They came to party hard. I'm not knocking them, but I wish we could've switched places so Karson and I could sit and see the show (and not stand the WHOLE time). SO, Karson was over-done, and I was tired of looking at a wall of backs. I also didn't mind leaving because I knew we had an hour drive back home. I felt good about our decision because when we left, all the police officers were lining up outside which told me that the concert was about to end. I can't wait to go to another Taylor Swift concert. It almost makes me want to get tickets to the October show in Louisville (tickets that I sold on StubHub so I could attend this one). If you've got a little girl, this is a concert to see! An ENCHANTED evening with a Cover Girl (and Taylor too)!

Weekly Run Down...

just in case anyone out there is wondering. My life is officially in FAST forward. Whether or not I'm ready for the school year to begin, it's chucking right along, rather quickly I might add. I think that's the thing I don't like about the kids going BACK to school. It makes the year go soooo FAST! It's already September, and Matt informed me last night that progress reports go out soon. Eeek. SO, how is OUR life progressing...well let me tell ya...beginning with last Friday. Karson, as you know, is playing on the Sassy Spikers. Our coach organized a scrimmage with another team from our area--let the competition begin. Volleyball, at this age, is NOTHING like basketball or softball where NO score is kept. Volleyball scores must be kept in order to determine a winner. Teams play the best 2 out of 3. I had no idea what to expect considering volleyball is new to us, but I can recognize pure talent when I see it. Karson has some "players" on her team. We have two girls who can overhand serve and practically ace it every time. This has to be ab-normal at this level of play. And, some of the girls on our team have siblings that play for SWHS Middle/High school. Our girls KNOW the sport. I felt sorry for the other team we scrimmaged. We didn't cream them by any means but did win all three of our matches. Go PLANO!

The girls had their first official game on Tuesday and won two games in a row. We're good! And the most important thing is Karson really enjoys it.

Saturday, we spent the day at Nolin with family. There is no shortage on boats at our place. I think everyone in our family has one. My cousin Lori and her husband Craig took the kids out tubing in their boat.

No boating adventure at the lake is complete without a trip to the candy dock.

We couldn't get Isaac in a tube. He was completely content eating snacks and basking in the sun. Can't say that I blame him! I was never big on water sports myself.

Evan and Isaac...two crazy peas in a pod!

It was a special day. We laid my Papaw Pogue to rest in the lake, his favorite place. The sunset was so pretty I had to take a picture. God shows up at the right moments in life. Matt read the 23rd Psalm and had a prayer. My cousin Brent spread his ashes on the water close to our cove. It was such a nice tribute, and I can't imagine a more appropriate burial for Papaw.

CAPTAIN Miles and his side kick Pops.

We took the kids to Dog Creek afterwards. They had been begging to go to the beach all day.

Sunday is always busy as usual. Thankfully it was a 3-day weekend. I spent Sunday afternoon cooking--for Labor Day. I was looking forward to a relaxing Monday. We planned to go to Paul and Shannon's Monday afternoon for a Labor Day get together.

Mmmm...Chocolate Scratch Cake.

I wanted to make a run to Hobby Lobby Monday morning. Karson and I were on a mission for some glitter paper. Since Matt was playing golf, the boys had to tag along. We decided to pick up some other goodies while we were there. The morning was rainy and gloomy, but at our house, it was CHEERY and messy as we painted.

Our finished products which will most likely end up in the trash at some point next week. I mean REALLY what do you do with stuff like this? It's temporary fun and helps them be creative, but other than that, it's trash-bound. We spent the afternoon having some good ol' fashioned fun at the Mags.

I'm not sure at what point I put out all my Halloween decorations. I was up in the attic going through clothes since it's cooled down so much and decided I might as well get all that decor down. As fast as my life is moving these days, Halloween is tomorrow.

This white ghost came down with my Halloween loot, and Miles has played with it like he plays with his army guys or power rangers. It has instantly become one of his favorite toys. Since the arms and legs are held on by screws, I am constantly trying to repair it for him. I guess I should be glad he didn't choose the glass ones to play with.

I picked up a dreadful Monster High outfit this week. Karson wanted to be a werewolf for Halloween a few weeks ago but has decided to go this route instead. Ick. Will these creepy people go away already! I managed to find some dress up clothes and a wig that didn't seem TOO mature.

Isaac has decided that he wants to be a zombie. The BIG orange tent is up which means a weekly trip to Halloween Express (aka free time for Mom). Isaac has found a bloody limb that he wants there which translates into being a zombie. However, when I show him pictures of what zombies look like, he's not at ALL interested in dressing up. He simply wants the bloody limb. SO, I may have a kid dressed in street clothes flashing a bloody limb for Halloween. WHATEVER, right!

Speaking of October, which is a BIG month for us, Karson and I have been planning her birthday party (thus the trip to Hobby Lobby on Monday).

Her birthday falls on a Saturday this year so I told her we could have an actual party this year. We celebrate her birthday every year but haven't had a FULL blown birthday party with lots of friends since she was 5 years old. We talked about Spa Fabulous but decided we could probably pull off our OWN spa party. My mom has offered to host it, and I've talked to my sister, Lisa G. and MacKenzie, my group of posh ladies to help in assisting with it. We're going to do chocolate facials, feather hair extensions, and manicures/pedicures with crackle polish. Lisa is going to bring her chocolate fountain, and I found some cute, colorful champagne glasses for punch. Aren't her invitations the cutest! She was ready to send them out this week, but I convinced her we needed to wait. Her birthday is over a month away, but she is SO excited. Okay, I KNOW I am planning WAY ahead people, but like I said, my life is in fast forward and showing no signs of slowing down.

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AND I also have to plan a 5th birthday for Miles. His won't be quite as elaborate and will have to involve golf. He loves GOLF. I had to dig up my $30/ea. soft touch holly bushes this week. Thanks Alvaton nursery for selling me FOUR that managed to DIE this summer. Miles has been using his putter and golfing off our front porch into the giant holes. Golf is his passion. Matt usually takes him to Otte once a week (they went yesterday) for some "golfing with holes" as Miles refers to it. I wish Otte had a party room. I would SO prefer that to Southern Lanes which is a bowling alley with a mini-golf course in the back. Ugh.

Photo Of the WEEK. I like how Miles is using his underwear as a cell phone clip along with his glock, glock guns. He's all gangster. His favorite song right now is "This is Why I'm Hot" by Nims (edited version of course). We have to listen to it mutiple times in the car rider line. If you hear thumping around 3:00-3:30, it's me and my thug.

Karson came home incredibly excited on Wednesday. She had been selected to represent her 3rd grade class as part of the Royal Coronation court for the Fall Festival activities. Two students (boy and girl) are selected from each class as a representative. The kids vote for their favorites during the week of Fall Fest and then at the actual event. I had to email the coordinator two pictures of Karson--a baby picture and a current picture. Here is what I selected:

There will be a slide show at Fall Fest, and the winners will be crowned. I know she has high hopes of being selected, and like Maid Marian, it's a long shot but what an honor to be selected. Very cool!

Here is the box she took to school today. VOTE FOR KARSON!

Last night we headed over to SWHS for the girls volleyball game. I am totally into volleyball right now, and the game was amazing to watch. SWHS didn't pull out a win, but they looked great. We spent the remainder of the evening terrorizing Matt's classroom. I always loved going to my mom's classroom as a kid, but she didn't have all the gadgets that teachers have now--LIKE Active Boards and ginormous iMacs. The kids LOVE his classroom--we're so proud of him!!!

Today was Grandparents Day at Plano. I usually don't attend but heard it was better than ever this year. Miles will have his program on Monday. I decided to call my grandparents today to chat. It's been a while since I've talked to them. I wish they lived here so I could see them all the time =(. At least I'll get to be with Uncle Mike in a few short weeks at the BEACH.

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I've noticed our turtle hasn't been herself this week. She's looking kind of lethargic. A lethargic turtle, Tiff, how do you know? Well, let me tell ya, she isn't moving as much and hasn't been eating. Mind you, we keep her outside in a $6 tank I found at Grandma's Attic. I change her water a few times a week, and she has a basking rock. However since the temperature has dropped so much this week, her tank has been cold and no sun = no basking. This morning I decided to google: turtles in the winter. I read that their feeding habits slow down and that they hibernate deep in the pond mud for a couple of months for warmth. It got me thinking...maybe it's time to let Green Jill go??? Karson absolutely ADORES the turtle. She gets it out daily to play with it, feeds it, makes sure I change the tank water, a faithful companion. I tried to break the news to her this morning that maybe it was time to let her go. I explained that she was probably cold in her tank and needed to hibernate, laying it on thick and trying to convince my daughter we could find another one next spring. The next thing I know, the kitchen sink is on and I hear sniffling. She's filling up a cup with hot water to put in the tank and trying to hold it together. I call for her and tell her not to be sad and that I will figure something out.

After I dropped Miles off at EEP this morning, I headed over to Petco and pleaded my case to a sympathetic and HELPful employee. I managed to escape spending TONS of money, but let's just say I spent WAY more than I planned to on the free turtle I found months back on the side of the road. I can't help but think of the song by The Fray called "How to Save a Life". We saved a turtles life today (and probably an 8 year old girls).

AND that my friends is one WEEK in our house.

Let's Try This Instead...

A couple posts ago, I mentioned that Karson decided to try out for a part in the Robin Hood play at PTK which begins next month. However, I failed to write a post about what happened as a result of those try-outs. Let me catch you up...we went to PTK, read/filled out the application that said a resume is encouraged, watched miniature Selena Gomez's act on stage like they already belonged on a Disney show, watched my sweet daughter deliver three character scripts, knew it was a shot in the dark for her to even get a part as a townsperson, got in the car...I'll pick up here. SO, we get in the car, I tell her how proud I am of her, that I would have never gotten up in front of ALL of those people and did what she did. She was being JUDGED people, like contestants on American Idol, and the competition was FIERCE. We talked, and I told her that I could tell a lot of the kids on stage were very comfortable up there. Some of them were currently participating in the PTK play Annie Jr. Like a said, mini professionals. She was completely unphased by that comment and said, "yeah, but they need young kids mom. Salome (the part she was gunning for) is young, and I'm young, I might get it." Mind you, Salome is one of the lead parts and probably a part that MOST girls are going for, but in her head, she had NAILED it. You gotta love the confidence of a child. The cast list was supposed to be posted on Facebook by Friday at noon. Friday noon came and went and NO cast list. I was out and about and Matt called me and asked if I could swing by and check the list (per, you know who's, request). By this point in the week, confident Karson decided she probably got the part of Maid Marion. Love that girl! I pull up to PTK and check the list. There are TWO casts and she didn't make either one of them =(. I had to make the dreaded phone call to Matt and break the news. My Karson was a legend in her own mind, but PTK didn't see it =(. Matt texted me and told she was crying in her room. It's hard when life let's you down. Honestly, I was a bit relieved she didn't make the cut. The commitment to theater is intense--way to intense for our family of 5. Not only is PTK 25 minutes from our house, practice was every night for two hours and on the weekends. AND, the practice began in July. YIKES.

Since acting is on the back burner at this point, I convinced my girl to do Warren County Youth Volleyball instead. I know zilch about volleyball besides playing in co-ed leagues back in high school at Lampkin Park and watching Jerry Mack spike one on little Amy Grace Satterfield's head at church camp (remember that Josh O.?) back in the day. Karson was on board. She needed something after "losing the Oscar".

A friend of mine told me about a clinic South Warren High School was hosting for girls volleyball. I was glad Karson would have some exposure to the techniques before the season started. Her friend Emma was there with her.
DIG, KARSON, DIG

She is playing this season for the Sassy Spikers who are all from Plano, and their practices are at Plano. The season begins next week. I doubt it will be very competitive since most of the girls haven't played before or are new to the sport (you can start volleyball in 3rd grade). Parents are line coaches and score keepers. I'm hoping to see some good volley-ing action, but based on my daughter's skill sets at this point, I'm kind of doubting that =). I got her some nice knee pads which still look brand new after three practices--she's MY daughter--and mark my words...there will be NO diving after a ball--fat chance! I asked her why she didn't dive like some of the other girls did during practice and she gave the exact answer I did when people asked me why I didn't slide into bases during softball, "I MIGHT GET HURT." Can't say that I blame her--we're cautious =).

I also got her a really nice, fairly expensive volleyball from Amazon. I didn't care to spend money on a more expensive ball since she will be playing with it for the next four years if she sticks with volleyball. AND normally, I wouldn't purchase a PURPLE volleyball being that this is BGHS's colors, but I was totally going for cheapest price and wasn't going to spend $5 more based on a color. It was nice and beautiful when it arrived and now looks like a Magic Eraser's nightmare.

While I'm doing a post on Karson, I have to mention what has been occupying her time most afternoons. Isaac came home with a form for a poster contest for the Transportation Cabinets Adopt-a-Highway program. Karson saw it and dedicated almost three solid days to working on her project. Here is the finished poster:

Hope she puts this much time and effort into her volleyball game.