Dominoes in church

When I think about all the adventures (or misadventures, as it were) out in public we've had with the twins, some of the more humorous have been at church.  Yesterday was a really good day with them.  We didn't once have to go out with them or shush them, and I guess I was just a bit reflective over the last few years.  Every Sunday the boys go to Bible class and afterward we all go into the auditorium for worship for a little over an hour--depending upon who's preaching.  That can be a very long hour!!

I would be remiss if I didn't stop right now and thank Mr. Jobs for creating the iPod.  There are so many good apps that keep them entertained.  It has been a life-saver!  Still, with all that, life with children is never dull......

Andrew has been participating some in the song service lately (singing his heart out and completely out of tune just like mom).  The congregation stood up for a song and the boys stood on the pew between Tom and I.  All of a sudden, Aidan lost balance, fell into Andrew, who consequently fell down in the pew.  It was like dominoes in slo-mo!  It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing.  :)

That brought to mind a few other memories.....

The one time where Tom was trying to take Andrew out to go potty, and he said, "I want skittles!" (our reinforcer for pottying) Tom: "Let's go potty first."  Upon returning from the bathroom, "mommy, I want skittles!"  Please keep in mind, MY CHILDREN ARE NOT QUIET and the acoustics in the auditorium, well, let's just say sound carries very well.

Speaking of....there was one time that Andrew had Tom's iPhone, which was on silent, but for reasons unexplained, all of a sudden, Prince's "When Doves Cry" began blaring through the mostly quiet assembly.  And yes, if I had any doubt or thought that my paranoia was just allowing me to think that EVERYONE probably heard it, they did.  T.J. was sitting up front and confirmed my worst fear.

At the conclusion of one service, the boys dismissed the crowd, loudly proclaiming, "All done!!  Time to go!"  Well, I had to agree, the preacher was very long-winded that day.  Surprisingly, we haven't run off the good people that have been sitting around us for so long.  They are truly long-suffering and get big points in my book!

I hope I've provided you with a little grin for the day!


Sherri

Bathroom Rescue

The school's director, Sandy, and the boys' teacher, Nicole, met me at the entrance of the school today.  "Do you have a minute?  We need to talk."  **Gulp**  Just what every parent wants to hear, right?  They assured me the boys were fine, and I felt better knowing they were not being kicked out of school either.   :)  


After nap, Andrew had gone into the bathroom in the classroom, closed the door behind him, and was immediately locked in when the door somehow malfunctioned.  Andrew did not panic (Aidan would have!), but calmly kept saying, "Mrs. Nicole, I'm stuck; open the door."  I have to give Nicole credit, she was certainly being proactive; she kept passing him smarties underneath the door where there was at least a three inch clearance.  He must have been in heaven!  She just told him that they had lost the key, to which Nicholas, a buddy, replied, "I think it's in that drawer over there!"  Ha ha! 


Aside from his calm demeanor, Nicole was most impressed by how he followed every direction she gave him (I've got to learn that trick).  She had a portable DVD player ready to slide under the door as a last resort, but it wasn't needed.  There were even prospective parents visiting MP who jumped right in to try and help bust him out.  Hey, at least they know things don't always run perfectly there, even though it's pretty stinking close in my opinion!


Finally, the Mountain Brook Fire Department got there with their equipment, and with Andrew standing back per Mrs. Nicole's instruction, busted the door in.  I so wish I could have seen his face when those firemen got to him. One of them picked Andrew up and playfully swung him around.  Wow....and we even saw a firetruck with sirens, on the way home...he was so excited.  What a day!

"Happy football day to you!"

The five of us were walking the six blocks to Bryant-Denny stadium from our parking spot, and as we did so, we saw hordes of people wearing crimson and white (and a few in black and gold), shouts of "Roll Tide!" punctuating the warm October air; there were Bama flags waving from vehicles and front porches, pictures of Big Al painted on business windows, and in the midst of all the festivity, Aidan stopped and said, "mommy, happy football day to you!!" I smiled and realized I could not possibly have said it any better; this was going to be a good day for our family and for Aidan's first ever football game.  Already in his four-year-old mind, he was beginning to understand how exciting Alabama football is.  "The tradition rolls on...."

Our boys--love them!

Ha! I stole your hat, dude!

Chilling on the quad in front of the library.  

Gorgas library--look at that sky!  Perfect weather all day.

T.J.'s roommate, David, letting Aidan try on his hat

We had hoped to make the elephant stomp as well as have a picture with Big Al, but we completely misjudged our time.  That was okay, though, as Aidan was thrilled just seeing Big Al on the field and dancing on the jumbo-tron.  T.J. went with friends and sat in the student section, and we leisurely made our way to our gate, stopping to take in more of the sights.

Playing toss the football with daddy pre-game...just like everybody else!

Andrew was mesmerized by all the names etched in the stone walkway leading to the stadium

at Bear Bryant's statue

Look,  Gate 38, finally!

 Sadly this is the best pic our neighbor took of us.  Aidan became very shy all of a sudden...

Our view....thanks to Mrs. Renee for the fantastic seats!  

Sooo exciting!

Some shaker action.  We had to instruct them on proper shaker etiquette.

No surprise, they loved watching the band.



Our neighbor let the boys try out his binoculars



Talking game stats?

Even though we got in our seats an hour and a half before kickoff, the boys did great and behaved really well. The homecoming ceremonies and the flyover added to the fun.  The people sitting around us were top notch as well, and were not the least bit bothered by the occasional wayward smack of a shaker or bump by the boys.  (With the exception of a couple of Vandy fans, but so what, right??).  We had figured we'd make it to halftime, but actually were able to stay until 3rd quarter, so we felt really lucky.  I guess we stayed a bit late however, because that was a long walk back to the car in that crowd (since the score was 27-0 at that point, we were not the only ones with the idea of leaving).  The boys were tired, especially Andrew, and he tried to melt down on us more than a few times.  Lesson learned.  He also may not have been feeling well, as he woke up very early the next morning with a stomach bug.  Other than that, what a great day!!  34-0 final score.  Roll Tide!