Baseball

James had baseball practice last night. He was playing third base and the reached down to get a grounder and it popped off the bag and hit him in the eye. This was last night at bedtime.
This is what it looked liked this morning. I can't wait until it turns blue and green!

Patriotic Program

Wednesday was the Third Grade Patriotic program. It was fabulous! Many of the children had speaking parts and solo singing parts. They all did great!

Glad I went with my Gut!

I checked the kids out and took them to my eye doctor - Dr. Michael Blackburn at Oak Mountain Family Eye Care. If you need an eye doctor, I would highly recommend him!! Not just because he said neither of my kids needed glasses, but because he was wonderful with the kids and took his time and explained everything to me! I have worn contacts and glasses since I was around 12 years old, so going to the eye doctor is nothing new for me. But, he did a fabulous job explaining step by step with the kids - to me and them. James and Annamarye are both slightly far sighted. James is actually a little more far sighted than Annamarye. They both see 20/20 and their eyes work together. He said everyone is born far sighted and it does usually correct itself. The reason glasses are not usually suggested (if they see 20/20 and their eyes work together well) is that they don't make a big enough difference. I am near sighted, so when I put on my glasses or contacts it makes a huge difference. With them at this point, putting on glasses won't really matter. They won't have that sense of "Wow" I can see! Another factor has to do with the curve of the eye when he looks at it after it is dilated. I'm not sure all the technical details about this. I will continue to watch and take them for check ups to make sure glasses aren't needed down the road. But for now, I feel much much better!

Going with my Gut

Disclaimer: I will probably ramble. I have been debating whether or not I should write this post.

Last month Annamarye mentioned a few times in the car after school that she had a headache. I decided to take her and James to the eye doctor for a complete exam. I have a wonderful eye doctor and thought about taking them there. But I thought I'll ask a few friends with kids that wear glasses where they go. A couple of friends recommended the same doctor and she was fairly close so I thought we would try her out. Because of baseball practice, James' appointment was for last Friday. I took Annamarye on Thursday after school. From the minute I walked in the office, it just felt wrong. You know how you just have that gut feeling inside. Well, I had it. The doctor was nice, however she seemed to exam Annamarye a little too quickly and when I asked questions she was short with her answers and didn't explain anything. I got the feeling that no matter what everyone that walked in her office left with glasses. She said that Annamarye was slightly far sighted and needed glasses. Needless to say she didn't seem too happy when I said we would look around at other places at glasses before deciding.

I came home and immediately called my eye doctor and made an appointment for James and Annamarye. I then looked on the Internet and learned that it isn't uncommon for school age children to be far sighted and that glasses aren't recommended because given time they will outgrow it. Something she didn't volunteer.

I debated posting this because I don't want to hurt the friends I know that go see this doctor. Their circumstances may be completely different from Annamarye's. I just know it didn't seem right to me and I had to go with my gut. I encourage everyone to do the same!

I'll let you know what happens after the next eye appointment.

McWane Center Field Trip

Friday I went with Annamarye's class to McWane Center. We have been members since James was a toddler and have always loved going. However, it is much different going on a field trip! But I will say that I have gone as a chaperone lots of times over the years with the kids' classes and this by far was the best trip! I had a great group of girls to hang out with and it was really a lot of fun.
We saw a "combustion" demonstration that was good and saw a dinosaur Imax movie. I love going, but my only complaint ~ and always has been ~ is that they schedule too many school groups at a time. There were probably 6 to 8 other school groups there that day. That is just too many kids! Anyway, it was a fun day!

New Favorite Things

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day! Friday we went to our friend's house to play in the snow. When we got home this box was on the front porch! Annamarye was happy, because it was to her and me.

Inside were flowers (which Annamarye quickly said she wanted!), candy, bath stuff and a teddy bear - which she did take. We all shared the candy. The flowers are beautiful! It is hard to tell from this picture, but they have really opened up now!

This is one of my new favorite things and I absolutely love it!! I know that sounds crazy about a bottle of frosting, but wait until you try it! On Saturday, Annamarye and I made heart cookies and used this to frost them. It is fabulous and so so easy! You have to try it!
On Sunday I got another new favorite thing! This camera!

We looked at the new Flip recorder and were going to get one for our trip to Disney World. After a little research we decided against it because it only records 2 hours of video and then you have to transfer it to your computer. That wouldn't work for Disney. I have a Cannon camera that uses a SD card for pictures and tape for video that I love! It isn't big at all, but compared to this one it is. Anyway, we found this one and I fell in love! It uses a SD card and takes pictures and video in HD. So once we use up one card we can just put in another one and transfer everything when we get home. It is smaller than my iPhone and weighs almost nothing!

More Snow Pictures!

The kids wanted to play a little more in the snow this morning. So they started out on the deck with plans to build a snowman.
They started out separately and then just ended up hitting each other with the snow!

James' friend Daniel and his Dad came by and they helped build a snowman in our front yard. We had to make him a "Bama" snowman! ( Daniel's parents are big Florida fans!) We used fruit roll ups for the eyes. We didn't have a carrot for the nose. We tried rolling up the fruit roll up but it didn't work. They had lots of fun playing before the snow started to melt!
Once inside we made hot chocolate with cool whip and sprinkles to warm up!
And the boys played Wii of course!

It Actually Snowed!!

Waiting on the Snow

No snow yet! The kids did have to go to school this morning. Which I am glad - I didn't want to miss another full day for nothing. The snow is supposed to be on it's way. We'll see.

Basketball Awards Night

James had his basketball awards night last night at church. Here's Annamarye with our neighbor Ashley. They sat and played with Ashley's DS and Annamarye's ipod the whole time.

Be careful what you wish for is all I can think about when I look at this picture! Just last Saturday night we had dinner out with some friends. We were complaining that the kids would get "another bag" at the awards night and how we don't need another bag etc... Well, we didn't get another bag. We got this:

It is a very sturdy basketball hoop that hangs on the back of the door! It comes with a very sturdy basketball too! James loves it!! It is driving me crazy!! My dear sweet niece - that I love dearly - gave James a really cool basketball set for Christmas that is hanging in his room. There are two goals with that one - one over his bed and one on the opposite wall. Now we have this on the back of the door!! It sounds awful when he "slam dunks". I'm afraid to look at the walls in his room!

What happened to January?

Time sure flies by! I can't believe it is February 8th!! What happened to January? Not much has been happening around here - just daily life with 2 kids.

James' basketball season is winding down. They will play their last game this Saturday. Their team has only won 1 game so it hasn't been the best season. James enjoys playing basketball, but he doesn't get into it like he does football and baseball. Speaking of baseball, even though it is early February, baseball practice begins next week. James is a pirate this year with Coach Moody. This will be our third spring to have him as Coach and we are all thrilled! He is a great guy and Coach! They learn a lot and work hard, but he also has fun and isn't a coach that goes overboard with the practices. I love baseball season! It is so much fun! I don't have a brother so I didn't grow up going to the ballpark. I did go some with my neighbor to see her brother play and loved it as a child. Annamarye loves going too - she likes seeing everyone. Plus - this year we are in the front of the park by the big concession stand! Yea!! For those of you that have never been to Heardmont Park - this is HUGE! For years we have been in the back and let me tell you it is a hike back there!

I have been obsessed with reading the book Roses by Leila Meacham (?). It is Fabulous!! First of all, I have always loved Gone with the Wind - the book and the movie. My friend Celisa read about this book and so I thought I would try it out. I have not been able to put it down!! Every free moment I have has been spent reading this book. It is that good. I am at the very end and will finish it tonight. I should be back to blogging regularly once I finish it.