Blown Away!

 Months ago Bobby and I snagged tickets to see Carrie Underwood and I was delighted when the Joneses decided to join the party. Concert date nights are ALWAYS my favorite and I had been looking forward to being Blown Away for more days than I could count.

 We had a little (lot) of dinner at the Kayne Prime. Kayne, not Kanye, that's another concert. Little steak for the men, little fish for the ladies. It was delish and the atmosphere was cozy.

I must remember to take note that my pictures from this concert are definitely less than desirable. Ever since the Keith Concert Camera Catastrophe I'm afraid to try to take my camera in for fear that Bobby will have to hoof it a mile back to our car because it's "illegal". Anywho, my little iphone did the trick...sorta. No matter how good they say those phone cameras are, they just really aren't. 

Opener: Hunter Hayes. Cute young man. Quite possibly the Justin Beiber of country music. Speaking of Justin Beiber, I'm available if anyone needs a chaperone for their tween at his upcoming concert. Just contact me privately. Back to Hunter, I knew a couple of his songs. One in particular that I really like from the radio and yes, I did sing aloud. 

During his performance he was presented with an award for.....well, I can't remember because I'm so late in blogging this concert. In any case he was really excited and thanked us fans a least 37 times. Bobby wanted to hold up heart hands like people do for Taylor Swift but when it came right down to it he chickened out. I literally begged him to do it. Just the thought of it is hysterical to me:)

As usual, a concert self portrait:

And out came Carrie....

With the opening she had me all thinking that she was going to start out with "Blown Away" but then she fudged and sang something else. 

She had the business in the front, party in the back dress style goin' on this time. I like her legs though so I think she deserves to have them sticking out in the front. We weren't quite close enough to see if she had on spanx this time. 

I've been searching high and low for the boots that she wore with this outfit (that you can't really see in this pic) but I haven't been able to find them. It's probably for the best. We DO have to send 4 kids to college and neither Bobby nor myself have Carrie's salary. 

For her next set of songs, Carrie came out in a Pred's jersey and cut off jean shorts. Then the little stage she was on lifted into the air and began to float over top of all of us. I love great tickets but this is one time I was uncomfortable being in the good seats. I just knew that stage was going to fall and crush us to smithereens. 

Yikes! Could this be the moment I had been fearing?? 

Nope! All was well and as it floated past us it was actually pretty from afar! 

Now, I'm not saying that I'm Giuliana Rancic when it comes to fashion or anything but let it be known that prior to the concert I said, "Metallics are in for fall you know". And, lo and behold, what does Carrie come out in? Metallics. Just call me Sonjanista. That's Sonja and Fashionista meshed. 

Next, I thought the same ol' same ol' was going to happen. You know, when there is a duet song at a person's concert and they make you think the other half of the duet is there and it's really a fake on the screen.....nope. Not tonight. The real BP showed up and I screamed so loud that I blew my uvula. 

It was a fantastic duet and by the look on her face Carrie was just as surprised as the rest of us. I do love that Brad Paisley! 

The grand finale came and it was time for "Blown Away" and I was.

All kinds of wind and confetti blowing around. A perfect ending to another great Carrie Underwood concert! 

As always, concert date night=awesome. Concert date night with friends=even better!

Warrior Dash 12!

I once again headed to Manchester to participate in the Warrior Dash. Always a good time!!

Before:

After:

Labor Day in the ATL

We were super excited to be making another trek down to Atlanta to watch the Braves play over Labor Day weekend. 

Daniel was super sweet to once again let the boys come hang out for BP. I didn't take my real camera with me this time and I was bummed that I didn't take more pics. Especially since Prado came over and I totally could have had my picture made with him. Oh well. Maybe next time. 

Bobby has a slight obsession with bats and so I knew we were in trouble when the man at the Braves store was talking about some kind of limited edition Chipper bat. Next thing I know this kid is walking out with it.

 We had fun just hanging out with the boys and spending some QT together but we were bummed that our favorite player was benched for both games we went to. That's no bueno.

This will most likely be our last ATL trip this year....unless the Braves make it to the playoffs. Then we might be heading back for a year end cap. Until next year, Braves! We'll see you then!

Diaper Decrease!

Big things are going down at the Morgan house. BIG things!

Elaina decided all on her own that she's not wearing diapers anymore. I'm down with that! One day she got on the potty, did her business with her poker face on then looked right at me and said, "Get me a prize". I think her bff had been giving her some pointers! The next day we got some Dora panties and I gave her instruction: "Do NOT pee pee on Dora." Her response? "Do she no like it?" Nope. No she doesn't. Thus far Dora has remained unscathed and princess has bit the dust only once. I'll say that's a win! 

School Time!

Summer went by faster than usual this year it seems. One day you're unpacking and cleaning out backpacks, the next day you're filling them up again. Speaking of backpacks, Cade asked for a new one this year. That makes me sad. It wasn't because his was falling apart, or torn, or unusable. It's that it had a shark (a tiny one, thank you, nicely embroidered on by llbean) along with his initials. A monogram. Apparently that's not cool when you're ten. Whatevs... A new backpack it is. Green. Plain. Functional. I remember fifth grade well. I loved my teacher, kicked tail in tetherball everyday in recess, and was preparing myself for a big move to Tennessee. Fifth grade was the last year I'd spend with the friends I'd had my entire life. Fifth was a big one and I can't believe I'm parenting a fifth grader. Here he is:

Grant is heading into third grade this year. He's mourned moving on from  another teacher that he adored and has high hopes that his third grade teacher lives up to his expectations. I am, too. Third is a big grade, too. Real, letter grades. TCAP testing. It gets real this year! 

 Little Buddy, not so little anymore, is moving up to the big first grade. His one hang up about school starting was that it meant that we had to start brushing his hair again. He had a last minute, albeit, forced, shirt change just before leaving because he dribbled chocolate milk all down the front of his other shirt. He told me it was "totally fine. It didn't matter. Who cares anyway?" Who cares? Me. So, against his wishes he attended the first day of first grade in a clean shirt with brushed hair. 

 Prissy Pants is not even going to school but she could not let the opportunity pass for showing off her new camera smile. 

 Here are all my loves on their first day of the 2012-2013 school year.

 And, when I told them they could do whatever pose they wanted for the last shot, here's what I got:

If there's one thing that's good to do on the first day of school it's a little Tebowing. My favorite part is that Lanie joined in with no coaching. I love a good, early morning laugh! Here's to a fantastic year of learning! 

Last Summer Swim

With school starting in just 2 days today marks our last official pool day of the summer:( We've had tons of fun afternoons splashing in our neighborhood waterhole! We lined the kids up for a pic....hard to believe all of those kids are from only 2 families! Right to left: sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, first, kinder,  3 and 2. Wowzer! 

Happy 13!

Happy Anniversary to Bobby and me! Thirteen years have quickly gone by and I'm so thankful for each one of them. We celebrated by visiting our usual (usual meaning we're totally VIPs after dining there regularly during our 18 years of togetherness) date place, J Alexander's. I pray God grants us another 62 years of loving each other over J's spinach con queso!