Turkey Day Antics

We drove to my Mom's house in Kingsport, Tenn for Thanksgiving. We ate at my cousin Donna's. We had about 16 people there. Of course yummy food.

Before the eating festivities began the boys were horsing around outside at Mom and Jim's. Here are few pics I took.

(And a nice shot with their Mema before we got on the road home.)

Matthew's First Basketball Games

The Carver Wildcats had a tournament on Monday and Tuesday this week. Two VERY exciting games!

They lost to DR Hill 27 - 28 Monday.
They lost to Gable 30-28 Tuesday.

Matthew played only a few minutes each game but had a great time and played well. On Tuesday he tied up the game when he swished two free throws. He was so calm as the crowd was stomping their feet and the cheerleaders screamed.

He had a great time despite the losses. The regular season starts up this Tuesday.

There was a bonus on Tuesday. He had extra cheerleaders. My mom along with our friends Heather, Jennifer, Donna, Hayley and Hayley's boyfriend, Jay all came to cheer on Matthew. Hayley used to babysit the boys from when Matthew was just a few months old. It was great to see her.

(Matthew going for the swish!)

(Nathan in between cheers. Yes, he did indeed cheer for his bro!)

(Matthew chatting it up with Heather and Jennifer after the game)

(Nathan, Hayley and Matthew)

(And I got some after game loving from my star basketball player!)

It's a THREE POINTER!!!

The minutes were ticking by.....8:30...8:35 and no phone call. Poor Matthew went upstairs....crawled into bed...head buried under the covers. I laid down next to him.

I am thinking to myself. 15 boys to make the team. The coach is going to call 15 boys in 30 minutes??? Not likely...but as the time got closer to 8:40 I started to wonder if Matthew was going to make the team. I started to tell him that coaches make mistakes...that we are still proud of him...all the things Moms say when trying to mend their children's hearts.

Then finally at 8:49 the phone rang. Nathan answered the phone. I took it from him....it was the coach. Matthew sprang from the covers with tears in his eyes. He hesitated at first to talk to the coach because he was crying. He took the phone and the coach told him

YOU MADE THE TEAM!

All Matthew could say was thank you and thank you....

Matthew has literally been dreaming of playing for Carver for three years. He practices every day and lately has even been practicing with his friends and adults at the YMCA. This means SO much to him.

Here are some HAPPY DANCE pics and a short vid to show you how excited he was.

(Right after hanging up the phone...)

(Calling Mema and telling her the good news....)

(And of course, the HAPPY DANCE!!)

Waiting for the call.....

Matthew just got home from practice. If he made the team the Coach will call him tonight between 8 and 8:30.

He is pretty calm about it....I am watching the minutes tick by....

Basketball

Matthew made the first cut for the Junior High basketball team. I believe there were 40 kids in total during tryouts and they narrowed it down on Friday to 30 (I think). He is at tryouts as I write this. I am hoping and praying he makes it. He should....my mother status aside...the boy has some skills.

We should know sometime this week if he made the final cut. 18 boys will suit up.

Keep your fingers crossed for him!!!

He's Baaaaaack!!!

Nathan had a blast in the Big Apple! My sister, Cynthia, was able to join him and the rest of the band for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Sunday.

Cynthia found a good spot on the parade route and got some nice pics. HUGS to Aunt Cynthia for taking awesome pics as usual!!

Here is my personal favorite and here is the link to all the pics she took. http://flickr.com/photos/cyntata2672/sets/72157608902404615/

I snapped this right after Nathan got off the bus yesterday. They left NYC around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night and rode all night. Poor guy said he woke up every few hours due to strange dreams. I think he actually looked pretty fresh after a 12 hour bus ride. Perhaps he was just happy to be home.

New York City

Nathan is having a good time. I think he got a little bored on the bus tour this morning. (I do not blame him after a 12 hour bus ride yesterday!) He sent me two pics he took today via his cell phone.

First one is him in front of the NBC Peacock sign at lunch today.

This was taken tonight from atop the Empire State Building.

Happy Monday

Nathan is in New York City with the Spartanburg High School Band. They are marching in the Veteran's Day Parade tomorrow. He is VERY excited. They left on chartered buses late Saturday night and arrived noonish Sunday. They saw "The Lion King" and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. I have not received confirmation that it occurred but my sister was due to meet them for dinner. I hope I can find an online video of the parade tomorrow. Have fun Nathan!

Basketball tryouts start today for Matthew. He was like at kid on Christmas morning on the way to school. He said "lots of kids" are supposed to tryout. The team will be comprised of both 7th and 8th graders. I cannot wait to hear all about it. Good luck Matthew!!

Round Two...Ding!

Round two of trying to fix the ceiling appears to have a KO. (That's a knock out for you non boxing fans.)

I called two "professionals" this week. One declined and the other never called me back. I guess they are not interested in small jobs. So Friday I ventured once again to Lowe's and picked up more of the spray "popcorn" ceiling stuff and more paint. I think it has worked!! I look forward to seeing it tomorrow when it has completely dried.

It actually was not too bad. Step 1 - Spray Kilz Step 2 - Spray popcorn (3 cans) Step 3 - Roll paint

Thank you, Matthew, for being my big helper!

Before...

During...

After (Still drying....)

Have you voted?

I hope you voted. Please exercise your right to vote.

I voted this morning. Took me about 90 minutes. Lots of people at my polling place.....all ages and races.

My sister lives in New York City and last I heard she had been in line for nearly two hours. Only one voting booth there. Amazing! Only one in her district in NYC. Wow! I surely hope voters do not get frustrated by the lines today.

Please go vote. No matter who you vote for...just vote. Make your opinion heard.

Home Fix It......

In the Spring of this year a pipe broke in the boys bathroom upstairs. When I came home from work that evening the water had flooded their bathroom and created a nice big stain on the kitchen ceiling. I have not been motivated to fix it until now.

So yesterday I went to Lowe's and got spray Kilz and spray popcorn. (Yes, the ceiling is that old yucky popcorn.) The Kilz worked pretty well but this morning it was still yellowish. So off to Lowe's I go again for ceiling paint as I really did not want to use the popcorn on such a large space.

Well, the painting started well but then I hit the spot where the water had saturated quite a bit. The popcorn just started coming down and down and down. UGH! The bad stuff is now all scraped away and I will be calling a "professional."

Kilz, paint and special rolling brush - $35

Hiring a professional - Pricey











Doesn't this almost look like an eagle with it's wings spread???