Kappa Kappa Gamma Reunion, Chapel Hill, NC

Last weekend, Alex and I went to UNC to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Epsilon Gamma chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Mom took the boys to the coast so we had only ourselves to manage!
We wound up at the movies on Friday night where we unexpectedly ran into a good friend Crystal from high school! I always find that weird but serendipitous. On Saturday, we had barbeque at the Kappa house and got a house tour. The tiny room that Robbins and I shared is now the President's single. The sleeping porch which used to sleep at least 12 girls now houses only 4 (three of the four are named Katelyn, Katelin, and Caitlin). The young ladies were shocked that we actually used the phone closet on the upstairs hall and the intercom to announce when someone had a phone call downstairs. The study lounge upstairs now has cubicles with a laptop in each. I hadn't thought about the consequences of all of the technology I've enjoyed as a real adult. When I was in school, the Internet was just emerging to the general population and I remember my sheer glee when my dad sprang for the 33 MHz processor in my first college PC.
We sneaked our way into Sitterson, the computer science building where I spent most of my best hours. They've extended it and named the extension after Frederick P. Brooks. The two most significant changes are that the GLAB (what we called the graphics lab) is now the Robotics Lab and - hold onto your socks - there's a room in the Brooks building on the second floor labeled "Lactation Room". Holy heck. We've come a long way, babes. Overall, I left with the impression that I used know things other people didn't and now I can't remember what I was just talking to Susan about before I had to pour someone more milk. I swear I'm going to take calculus classes at UNCC.

Ricky Loves Britney

Halloween!

Lisa and I took the kids on a haunted hay ride. It was slightly scarier than I had banked on, but the kids seem no worse for wear. I had Ricky sitting between me and Robbie and early on in the ride I covered his eyes with my hand. I should have noticed at some point during the event that he had fallen asleep sitting up. Either his brain shut down from too much stimulation or he really did need a nap pretty badly. Probably a good thing he fell asleep regardless. Robbie was fortunate that he had to "go" right before the ride started. When a moaning white-faced zombie staggered toward the wagon, Robbie beamed, "Hey! I saw him in the bathroom!" Kinda hard to be scared of the apparition that helped you turn the faucet on to wash your hands....

For Halloween, Robbie was Indiana Jones and Ricky was Tim Tebow (UF quarterback...)

Here's the video I was trying to upload. Did better on youtube.

Grandparents's Visit

We had a great time visiting with Grandmamma and Nana during their visit at the end of September! We took Nana down to Mary Jo's Fabric and she said she was coming back with an empty suitcase next time so she could stock up!

First Days of School

Wow, I was getting crabby for my friends not having updated their blogs in a while and look at me - a month! So here is the First Day of School edition!

Robbie on his first day of first grade with Ms. Thomas. This is what he will look like in his senior picture, just with an Adam's apple and some (more) cheek fuzz.

And here's Ricky on Robbie's first day of school. He is in his "big boy car seat" now and thinks he's one of the gang. On the first day that I drove carpool, he unbuckled and tried to exit the car to go into school with the other three boys! Very sad realization for him and he spent the first several days asking, "Where Robbie? Where Robbie?"

This is Ricky's first day of school. He was so proud of his picture and came home absolutely covered in marker. He was such a precocious wall artist in our house that there are no longer any markers here. I forewarned his teachers and now he can use markers at school! What a great idea!

So far, everyone loves school. Robbie is coming home with a crazy amount of homework and it all seems real and worth doing. Plus, carpooling has been fantastic. I've only driven a few times this year. Not bad.

A Ricky Fix

Ricky has been so busy lately. He's in my lap now looking for pictures of himself on the blog so I thought I'd put out some good ones I've been collecting :)

Our friends were over for a visit. Sienna came into the kitchen and said, "Ricky got peanut butter on the garden house." She left out the part about him rubbing an entire jar of peanut butter into his legs!

Guess who likes going potty?! He's training himself at this point and I just let him go when he tells me. He really only uses a couple of diapers a day.

The most telling part of the potty photo is a part I had to edit out. Look at this leg and tell me he isn't always into something. Each of these wounds is from a separate event. Maybe the bruises came in a set.

This is a picture from Emerald Isle courtesy of cousin Jennifer. Ricky in a waterfight with William! One of the best things about Ricky is that he can take it *and* dish it!

Of course, the harder they play, the harder they fall. Another Jennifer picture!

This is his anti-paparazzi face. Little tuffy.

Robbie's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Robbie's 6th birthday on Thursday. Here are some of the pix from his party. Friends Lydia, Zack, and Charlie were there to help celebrate. Theme: Speed Racer!

Robbie received the most excellent gifts this year including a Wall-E robot, an Indiana Jones *whip*, an Indiana Jones sword, a tape recorder that actually records, great new Lego sets, ToysRUs money with which he bought his first Technic Legos, sea monkeys (from his dad!!), and the game Sorry. He has already enjoyed them all over just the last few days.