The Armor's Blog

Ten on Thursday

2009-07-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

1. I LOVE 4 day work weeks! Ronnie is working all weekend and the boys are still gone so we don't have any big plans. We may go out to Point Mallard to visit some friends that are camping, but that's about it.

2. I'm going to be an aunt again--times 2. Kari and Jenna are both expecting again. Let's hope for some pink. These boys are starting to take over!

3. The boys are having a blast, but they need to get their butts back home. Ronnie & I are missing them like crazy. They have never been gone this long before.

4. Ronnie & I have discovered Facebook. Ronnie is addicted to Maifia Wars and I have really enjoyed connecting with people I haven't seen in a long time.

5. I bought the new Pledge pet hair remover and it really works! Good bye white Sassie hair!

6. Ronnie & I rode the bike to Little River Canyon (and back) with the Blue Knights this past weekend. That is almost 300 miles! It was fun but I was exhausted!

7. We have been watching movies since the boys have been gone. Last night was Fireproof. It was okay. We've also watched Taken (which I highly recommend) and Madea goes to jail.

8. I'm currently reading the new Janet Evanovich book--#15. It is okay so far, but I haven't laughed out loud like in previous books. I'm about half way through it so we shall see.

9. And because we are missing the boys to pieces, here are some pics from them training with Trinity PD last year.

David helping Justin shoot.

Zac standing by to pick up brass.

10. Happy 4th everyone!

Texas Bound

2009-06-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

They left for Texas today. Zac has called 5 times since they left and that is okay with me! I don't know if he will make it 2 weeks. The house is very quiet. Ronnie and I are passing the time riding the motorcycle and sleeping. We're old and we know it.

It's been awhile!

2009-06-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it has been over a year. I'm not making any promises but I will try to do more than one post a year! So let's start off with a Ten on Tuesday.

1. Since we measure our year in sport' seasons. I will catch you up on that. Since the last post (May of 08!) Zac played soccer for the county league and then also for a travel soccer club. He was the youngest player in the Governor's cup last November. (At one point he was playing league soccer, travel soccer and league basketball). I'll have to do a post about his travel soccer experience. Both boys played basketball. Zac's team was really young and just moved up a division so they had a long year. Justin's team was undefeated and won the western division and was the runner up for the county! He really learned a lot and had a great year. We just finished up baseball. Of course both boys played. Zac's team was 12-4 and won the western division and came in 4th in the county. He played catcher all year and did pretty good! Justin's team had a rough start but then won the last 7 games in a row. He played catcher, pitcher, center field, 3rd base.

2. Ronnie and 2 other guys had children on both baseball teams so the same 3 coaches coached both teams. That sounds good in theory but is a scheduling nightmare! Ronnie was also over baseball this year and the league president. We are both in agreement that he is retired from baseball and hopefully the president gig. I think he made enough people mad that someone will want the job!

3. We had another hail storm last night. This will be the 3rd time my car has been damaged this year. Ronnie's truck was beat up pretty bad during the first storm and we opened a claim but he hasn't had it fixed yet since he couldn't part with it until after baseball season. He has to have a hood and roof and paint work. Mine is able to be done with that Paintless Dent Repair.

4. The boys have been enjoying time with Uncle John and Trae lately. Last Saturday John took Justin, Zac, and Trae to Bankhead and hiked and rode the trails for several hours. Then yesterday they went to Point Mallard with Aunt Kari and Uncle John.

5. Sunday the boys were supposed to have 2 swimming parties. The one at lunch with the Sunday school class got rained out, but the afternoon party was at the Aquadome so they were able to swim. It was the end of year baseball party. Then they went to Point Mallard yesterday and have another swimming party this Saturday. They love to swim!

6. Ronnie just went home for lunch and found that the turtle has 3 eggs. One day earlier in the month I was taking the boys to Mom and Dad's and there was a box turtle in the road. I stopped and let the boys move the turtle to a lot on the side of the road. They talked their grandfather into taking them back up there to get the turtle. By the time I got home from work, they had been to the pet store and gotten food and other supplies and named the turtle. Now we have eggs!

7. Justin and Zac leave a week from today. They are going to Texas with Ronnie's parents for 2 weeks (if Zac will stay gone that long). I'm not sure what we will do with 2 weeks without kids. That hasn't happened in 11 years! Ronnie says he is going to sleep and enjoy the quiet.

8. Uncle Ronnie will be keeping Trae and the boys on Thursday. Kari has a class she didn't know about and everyone else has to work. God only knows what Trae will learn!

9. Justin turned 11 a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't seem possible! He doesn't want toys anymore. He just wants clothes and money. He and Zac were fighting in the car this morning. Justin decided that if he lived to be 103 he would have lived in 3 different centuries and that Zac wouldn't be able to do that because he would have to live to be over 200. Zac was not impressed!

10. Zac has turned into quite the little reader lately. Who would have thought that he would be the reader of the family?! His school is offering a "get out of homework" pass for every 5 books he reads. He has been reading non-stop since school got out!

Happy Tuesday all.

Fast Update

2008-05-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

We are super busy winding up the end of baseball. This will be the last week of regular season and next week starts tournaments. Ronnie is the tournament director for the 8&under west side division. We are also in charge of running the concession stand and gates for baseball and the softball tournaments which start the first week of June. But we can see a light at the end of the tunnel!! I noticed that I hadn't posted any pics of Zac this baseball season so here is the power hitter in action:

And here is a close up of his sports glasses. Sorry they are blurry but you get the idea. Thanks Grandpa (&Grandma) he has gotten a lot of use out of the sports glasses!

Have a good Tuesday!

Playing Catch Up

2008-04-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know Ronnie and I are spending every waking minute at a ball field, Sam's or Pepsi. Therefore updating the blog has taken a back seat. But I will try to catch you up on the happenings in the Armor household.

The boys are both playing baseball. Ronnie is coaching Zac's team, the Diamondbacks. They are doing really well. Zac is struggling a little batting but since it is his first year out of teeball that is understandable. That and the fact that he is blind. We finally convinced him to try sports glasses and he loves them! He wants to wear them to school. These aren't the old goggle kind but really look more like wrap around shades. Ill try to remember to post a picture soon. Zac is doing really well in his fielding abilities. Ronnie harps on defense quite a bit with his team. They had two run downs in Saturday's game and got both players out. They also had 2 double plays and ended the ballgame with a triple play. Now before you think Ronnie is that awesome of a coach he didn't teach them any of that but it was sure fun to watch!

Justin's team isn't doing near as well. Justin however is really working on his batting and in last night's game was the only kid on his team to get a hit!! One of his coaches is a screamer and Justin doesn't deal well with that. He just kind of shuts down. So maybe since that coach wasn't there he decided to show out a little? Justin is also working his pitching. I don't know if he will ever be a great pitcher but he pitches every night in the backyard. He has pitched a couple of games and he does throw about 80% strikes but he is slooooow. His basketball coach (who coaches a rival baseball team) said the batter could have 3 strikes on the first pitch! So needless to say the batters hit a lot off of him. We try to tell him that is okay. Obviously if they hit the ball it was a good pitch. However his team doesn't work on defense and therefore their fielding skill aren't that great so he gets down on himself a little.

Kari summed it up pretty well last night. Zac who doesn't really take baseball that seriously is on a good team and Justin who eats, sleeps and breathes baseball is not on a very good team. Oh well. Several people have approached Ronnie about moving up to Justin's level and getting his team back together. I don't know if that will happen but it's nice that they think of him.

Justin and Zac had their children's choir performance at church last Sunday night. They both had speaking parts and we were all nervous but it went well.

Justin pitching.

Children's Choir

It's time for 10!

2008-04-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

1. Baseball is in full swing. Ronnie has worked so hard getting the fields and concession stand up and running. He had to have the concession stand permitted by the health department and was scared to death about that since he had never done anything like that. Well he got a great score—100!

2. I think my jewelry party was a success! I got all of the $25 bonuses and scored 21 pieces of jewelry. Three of my coworkers are also hosting parties this month and I hope they do as well.

3. We are having Swamp John’s for dinner tonight. I haven’t ever had it but several people tell me they are great. I’ll let you know. Could it really be better than concession stand food?

4. Speaking of non concession stand food, I actually cooked the Saturday night. Ronnie, who is not a chicken lover, raved and raved. It was super easy. In a bowl combine 1/3 cup mayo (I used light miracle whip), 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, and 2 cloves of garlic. Put your boneless skinless chicken breasts in the bowl and coat. Also quarter some small red potatoes and coat them with the mayo mustard combo. Put the chicken and taters in a baking dish and salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

5. Zachary wants everyone to know that with his shoes on he now weighs 52 pounds. His goal is 60 so that he can say goodbye to his booster seat. His daddy the police officer is a stickler for the law. Isn’t it ironic that he weighs with his shoes on and I am taking off not only my shoes, but also my watch and earrings to weigh! The joys of youth.

6. I am in need of some book recommendations. Klancy you are the resident book lover in the family. Any ideas?

7. I am going to call about getting a tanning appointment today. One of my friends insists that fat looks better tan. I just don’t want to blind everyone with my legs!!

8. I have to be at work an hour earlier than usual in the morning.—7am. I can’t believe that I used to be at work at 6:45 in the morning. That was even before Justin and Zac were old enough to dress and feed themselves in the morning.

9. This is the first year in a long time that I am not watching Big Brother. It was a couples thing this year and I just couldn’t get into it.

10. We are trying to sell our motor home. So if you know anyone that is interested in our 1980 dodge motor home have them get in touch with me. I will make them a great deal. It runs well and doesn’t have any leaks.

Happy Tuesday!

Today

2008-03-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Is the last day that this man

will be 41. Tomorrow is Ronnie's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

10 on Tuesday

2008-03-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

1. Zac has his first practice game today.

2. I am hosting a Premier Design jewelry party Thursday night at work. If you are reading this consider yourself invited. B.J. has started selling it and in an effort to be a good mother-in-law I agreed to host a party for her. Not to mention the great hostess benefits!! You get 30% of the party total in free jewelry and 4 chances to have an additional $25.00 in free jewelry. My mother-in-law just earned over $290.00 in few jewelry at her party. So if you are interested let me know and I’ll hook you up with B.J.!

3. Gas has gone over $3.00 a gallon and I have started changing my driving habits. I try to make sure that I’m not using any more gas than I need to! I’d rather spend my money on something fun!

4. Because of gas prices I am definitely loving my car and the mileage it gets! Although I do have to admit that I have missed the Montero’s sun roof a little last week when it was so pretty.

5. I had acrylic tips put on my nails for Easter. I was only going to keep them for a week or so, but I am actually getting used to them and might try to keep them a little longer. They do make my fingers look good.

6. Along the same vanity lines I am going to have my gray covered Sunday. I can’t wait.

7. Ronnie and I are working really hard to be debt free by the end of the year. It is really hard not to buy bedroom furniture.

8. I did a lot of deep cleaning in the boys’ rooms during spring break. Their dressers and closets look so good right now! I wonder how long that will last.

9. Justin’s summer clothes from last year were size 8. He is currently in 12s. His Easter shirt, which was a 12, fit perfectly and I had expected it would be a little big. This kid is growing so fast and eating me out of house and home!

10. The boys got Nintendo DS games in their Easter baskets. Justin got Brian Age and Zac got Cooking Mama. They are both pretty cool.

Have a good week. I can’t wait for the warmer weather that is supposed to be here by the end of the week!

Happy Easter All!

2008-03-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

The boys hunted eggs several times this weekend but I only managed to catch the church egg hunt on camera.

Ronnie helping Justin learn to tie a real tie.

And the boys before church.

Throwback Thursday

2008-03-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

Okay so today was the first day of spring, but a couple of weeks ago we had snow on the ground. (For all you yankee readers this is major snow in Alabama).

10 on Tuesday

2008-03-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

1. It's Spring Break!! I also took the week off from work and the weather has been great. Zac said today that Spring Break has only been around for a couple of years because they didn't have it when he was in preschool. I didn't correct him.

2. Yesterday was St Patrick's Day and my niece Kailyn's birthday. Happy Birthday Kailyn.

3. Today was errand day. Zac came with me because he needed his glasses adjusted. We also went to the bank, the dry cleaners, Church Cooperation, got an oil change, and a car wash. He was a good errand buddy! Here's a long over due picture of him with his glasses:

4. Speaking of overdue pictures here are a couple from Trae's visit a couple of weeks ago. Zac wanted Trae to "sit" on his bed but Trae only wanted to smile and talk to Justin.

5. I am using this week to deep clean one room each day. Good thing I have a small house! The living room looks good, just don't look at the rest of the house yet.
6. They are painting at work this week. Boy am I glad I took off! Some of my coworkers think I planned it that way. I didn't, but I am loving it!
7. I have cooked the last two nights. My family doesn't know what to think. I got a good recipe from a friend that was super easy and everyone ate it up. Brown 1.5 lbs of hamburger meat. When it's done add a can of cream of mushroom soup with half a can of milk and half a can of water. Heat it through and serve with rice and peas (all mixed together). Easy, Fast and Good.
8. Ronnie got a Nintendo DS last week and he is loving it! It was an early Birthday present since he couldn't find one after Christmas.
9. Zac got a game for his Nintendo DS that helps with his eyes. It is called flash focus and he plays it when he wears his patch. It does an eye check and tells you what age your eyes are. It then keeps track of your progress. His original score was 74 and he has improved to 71 in 2 weeks. (Remember this is with his good eye covered.)
10.Have a good week!

Wonderful Weekend!

2008-03-03T10:09:00.000-08:00

The weather this weekend was absolutely beautiful! We opened all the windows and turned on the ceiling fans. The boys played outside almost all weekend. The only thing that brought them inside was when Trae came to visit on Saturday.

Justin had his first baseball practice Saturday and Zachary will have his first today. Somehow Ronnie also inherited a t-ball team. We don't even have any kids playing t-ball this year--go figure. He is hoping to guilt a parent into stepping up and coaching the team at their first practice today.

I took some pictures of Justin, Zac and Trae this weekend that I will post soon!

Ten on Tuesday

2008-02-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

1. I have to take Zac to his basketball team’s year end party tonight at Chuck E Cheese. I would rather take a beating than go to Chuck E Cheese. It starts at 6 and Ronnie doesn’t get off in time so he owes me one! Janna and Josh took Justin to his party there a couple of weeks ago so I guess I should be thankful that I haven’t had to go to twice this month.

2. I had my hair cut last week. It is really short with a lot of layers. I’m still working on styling it, but the gray is gone!

3. Have you heard the song by Taylor Swift “Our Song”? I’m stuck on it lately. Probably because Ronnie and I have a very unconventional song—You never even called me by my name. When we first started dating we delivered flowers one day for his mother in a delivery van that didn’t have a working radio. That was the only song that we both knew the words to so it became our song. Have I mentioned that we have very different tastes in music?

4. I have a new website that I was told about today. I plan on checking it for new linens for all of us. www.kinglinens.com

5. I’m excited about the new John Grisham book. I haven’t bought it yet because I am currently reading Wife for Hire by Janet Evanovich. It’s pretty good so far.

6. Stupid people are job security in my line of work but sometimes they really get under my skin—especially when they work for other public safety agencies.

7. Speaking of stupid people, I found out that a “retired” police officer has been bad mouthing me. Let’s just say, I was not happy. He told someone that I wasn’t qualified for my job and the only reason I have my job is because of who my father was. So let me set the record straight. I did get my job because of who my father was, but I kept it because I’m good at it. I have been promoted multiple times and I have a master’s degree in Public Safety Administration. This police officer was forced to retire because he didn’t follow the rules and he was never promoted, not once, because he is an idiot!!! Thanks for letting me vent.

8. Justin got a 99 on his latest big project. The teacher told him that the coloring job he did on one part of this 3D shoe box thingy could have been better. He is upset!! He said that was a matter of opinion and he didn’t think she was right so he should have gotten 100. I think we are raising a perfectionist.

9. Yesterday the temp got into the 60s and it was nice and sunny. Today—cold and rainy. I can’t wait for spring.

10. I am really in a cooking rut. I can’t think of anything to cook for dinner lately. We don’t have a lot of time in the evenings so I’m looking for some low prep and cooking time meals. Ideas?

I'll do better in March!

2008-02-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

Okay, I haven't done very well updating the blog this month, but I'll do better in March! (Hopefully!). So here is some randomness to start the week off:

Zac's basketball team ended up 3rd in the county. They lost in double overtime by 2 points. As the coach had them all lined up after the game talking to them, several of the players were crying because they lost. Not Zac! He was still talking trash. "We will have more fun at our party than they (the winning team) will." One of these days that little boys is going to talk trash to the wrong kid! Oh well on to baseball.
I had the flu a couple of weeks ago. I was completely down for a week. Honestly, I thought I would die. That is the biggest reason the blog hasn't been updated. My house is also trashed. How come it only takes a few days to get trashed but much longer to get everything back in order?
Ronnie has been having a lot of drama with being over baseball this year. Last year was easy in comparison. He had to fire a couple of coaches and find replacements. The replacements are both really good men and I think the kids are better off. He has had several people tell him he did the right thing. I am really proud of him. As my mama said, "the right thing isn't always the easy thing." Hopefully, the drama is about to blow over and everyone will be busy getting their teams ready for the season. Ronnie is coaching Zac this year so that should be interesting. They are soooo much alike.
Zac got glasses a few weeks back. He is doing much better with them than I expected. He flunked his school eye exam so we took him to an eye doctor locally and he flunked there as well. The doctor had me freaked out because he was saying Zac would need surgery and it had to be done before he turned 7 (on 2/19) and he was getting us in to see a pediatric opthalmologist at Children's Hospital in Birmingham. Zac being the "go with the flow" child that that he is was not the least bit worried. He proceeded to tell everyone that would listen that he was blind. Ronnie jokingly said that he would file for disability if we would let him. Long story short, we went to Birmingham and they didn't think it was near as bad as we first thought. No surgery, just glasses and he has to wear a patch 2 hours a day. During that time he is supposed to do something that stimulates the weaker eye like play video games. Naturally that is all Zac heard--he has to play video games for 2 hours a day. Evidently this is a common occurrence in children who were preemies that were on a vent. Zac was on the vent for 10 days.

That's about all I have for today. Maybe I'll get some pictures on here later this week.

Happy Monday!

What A Week!!

2008-01-31T14:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, this has been quite a week. Work is full speed and so is the overtime. Ronnie is still working the off duty security job almost everyday he is off and working the High School Basketball games. In fact when Ronnie was finally home this past weekend, the boys followed him around constantly. And even Zac who is not a cuddler had to have some cuddle time with Daddy.

Ronnie also used his off time to put Zac's bed together. Zac was soooo proud of it and has done a real nice job of keeping his room clean since. The race car bed went to Bynum and we hope he enjoys it as much as Zac did.

Tonita, notice the blanket (the Bs) are still close by at the foot of the bed. He is only pretending to be asleep in this picture or they would be up higher. Kari, the pictures behind the pillow are his collection of Trae. He still needs another picture frame for the latest wallets you gave him and he keeps reminding me. Hopefully I get to that this weekend.

It doesn't look like things are going to slow down any time soon. Zac has a basketball game Saturday morning at 9 (his team is undefeated with only 2 regular season games left) and then he has an eye doctor appt at 1:00 and Justin has a birthday party to attend also at 1:00. Justin has his first round of tournaments Saturday at 4 at Danville. He plays the other West Morgan team. They already beat us once so it may be a short tournament for us. Ronnie gets off work at 6 and I have to be at work at 6:30. We are 5 dispatchers short right now at work so there is a lot of overtime. Klancy, if Michael hasn't thought about it he might look to see if any of the agencies are hiring down there. The pay is okay, but the benefits are usually really good. The hours suck to begin with but get better with senority--says the dispatcher with 18 years in who is working nights all weekend! Anyway it is all computer based these days and there isn't any lifting so he might look into it.

Can you believe it is February in the morning?

Words on Wednesday

2008-01-23T15:50:00.000-08:00

Well Wednesday is supposed to be wordless Wednesday in the blog world, but since I really don't have any pictures that I haven't shared we will talk about words--more specifically books I've read lately. I just finished From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell. It was pretty good. The last time I read her was when Ronnie and I first got married and we were living in the townhouse in Decatur. That book scared me to death and I called Ronnie at work and told him to announce himself when he was coming up the stairs that night (he worked 2nd shift back then) because I was sleeping with the gun! I had every light in the house on that night! I vowed then that she was too scary for me, but it was a good book (the title escapes me now). Well some 12 years later I finally read another book by Patricia Cornwell and I'm glad I did. I am trying to talk Ronnie into reading it because I think he will enjoy it. We read a lot of the same books and it is close to the type of story line he likes. He just finished The Investigators by W.E.B. Griffin. He and I both liked it. It is part of the Badge of Honor series and he has read several of them.

Currently I am reading my last Anne George book, Murder Makes Waves. It is kind of a bittersweet feeling. I love her books but since she has died there won't be anymore. For those that haven't read her, I highly recommend her books! She is a great Alabama author and her southern sisters series refers to many landmarks in Birmingham. (Klancy, you should read her if you haven't.)

My mother-in-law has given me a couple that she has finished. We read a lot of the same authors. She has just finished a couple of the Janet Evanovich "between the numbers" books. She is another that I would highly recommend. I miss John Grisham's fiction books. I read the first nonfiction book and didn't care for it at all! There were too many characters and I felt like there would be a test at the end. If I find an author that I like I tend to read everything by that author before moving on. Kind of OCD, I know.

Any recommendations?

Happy Hump Day.

Ten on Tuesday

2008-01-22T16:06:00.000-08:00

1. Gotta love 4 day work weeks!
2. Zac wanted everyone to know that he made 100 on his spelling test last week. We are so happy!
3. Check out Klancy's blog to see pictures of the Wii challenge that we had in the Crowell family last weekend. Zac talked A LOT of trash even when he was losing. He has so much Armor attitude in that little body!
4.. Trae started day care this week. Grandma said he did well on Monday and decided he would go back today. (I don't think he has much of an opinion yet, but I'm sure he will develop one.)
5. I am trying to take more pictures with my new camera. It's actually almost a year old now but I am just now trying to figure out all the features.
6. Baseball sign ups are in a couple of weeks and we are still playing basketball! Ronnie is coaching Zac this year. That alone should be worth the price of admission. They are so much alike!
7. Speaking of basketball, both boys had quite a cheering session at last night's games. Ronnie and I, both sets of grandparents and Uncle Tim. Several of Zac's friend's parents stayed to cheer on Justin also. The boys want to thank all that were in attendance!
8. Zac has an appointment to get his sight retested next week. He flunked the screening they give at school. I'm not sure if he has bad eyesight or if he just wasn't in the mood to have his eyes checked. Remember this is the kid who ended up in the remedial reading class because he refused to take the letter recognition test even though he knew his alphabet.
9. I taught class for 3 new hires today that I didn't know were going to be there until this morning. Talk about having to think on your feet!
10. Ten is a lot! (I know that's cheating. Oh well deal with it.)

Happy Tuesday all.

Winter

2008-01-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

Even though we didn't get the snow forecasted this weekend, it was extremely cold! We did however get some snow last Tuesday and here are some pics of the boys with the blizzard of 2008 (ha!).

Keeping with the cold weather, the boys went ice skating yesterday. It was Zac's first time ever and he did amazing. It was Justin's second time and he did pretty well. He was nervous about falling so he was kind of stiff. The good news is that no one broke any bones!

The boys are out of school today and I'm off from work so we are cleaning house and relaxing. They both have basketball games tonight. The actually follow each other at West Morgan tonight! Yeah for easy scheduling!

Flashback Friday

2008-01-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

I miss the bowl cut!! These are from Christmas 2004. Time flies!

Stuff

2008-01-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that I am allergic to a lot of things!! I have had to use fragrance free items since I was a freshman in high school. Back then (boy does that make me sound old!) there weren't many products to choose from. But lately I have found a couple of great ones that I wanted to pass along. And get this, they are both store brands!

I have told several people about the fragrance free Kroger brand laundry detergent. You get 100 oz for $2.18--regular price. Sometimes they run it on sale for $1.99!! It is on the bottom shelf with a blue lid. Before that discovery I used the Purex brand and it was only about 64oz for around $3.50. I LOOOVE a bargain!My latest discovery is the target brand fabric softener sheets that are fragrance free. They are great. I previously used Bounce Free and for the same size box target is almost half the price! Now if I could just find a store brand of OxyClean that worked as well!

On a side note, Ronnie doesn't like to buy store brands. He doesn't think that the quality is as good. When you grow up with a large family like I did and your parents were a police officer and a teacher you learn to look for bargains! Although money isn't as tight as it has been before, I still love bargains. I would much rather spend my money on fun stuff than fragrance free laundry products.

It snowed yesterday and I took some pictures of the boys playing in the yard. I will try to post those tomorrow. However, the really funny part was Sassie. I should have taken a video of her barking at the snowballs that Zac had put on the porch to save. She would bark at it and then nudge it with her nose and bark again.

Justin wore a dress shirt, his very best jeans, and his wallabies to school this morning. He also had his hair brushed before being told to. I didn't ask, but Ronnie and I both suspect there is a 4th grade girl that he is trying to impress.

It's almost Friday!!

Wordless Wednesday/Guitar Lessons

2008-01-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Ten on Tuesday

2008-01-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

1. Zac had his first basketball game of the year on Saturday in Priceville. Zac's team won 26 to 2! Here are a few pics:

2. Bynum turned 2 on January 2nd and we went to his party on Saturday also. Sorry I don't have any pictures (my battery was low) but he didn't change much in the week since the Christmas pictures below were taken. He got a lot of presents and really enjoyed all of his haul.

3. We ended up Saturday with a visit from Kari and Trae. Uncle Ronnie held the baby while the rest of us played Wii.
4. Justin had a basketball game in Eva last night and it was tough! (Again no pics, forgot to take the camera) Justin's team won 21 to 11 and Justin had a good game. But the refs weren't calling any fouls on anybody and it turned into basically a street fight on the basketball court. One kid on the other team was kicking and tripping everyone around and Justin ended up skidding face first down the basketball court at one point. Needless to say I jumped up and was yelling about the #3 who was kicking everyone. It's a good thing Justin's grandma or papaw weren't there to see all that! As Zac would say "that's just rendiculious isn't mama!"

5. Zac has a game tonight at West Morgan. He is excited about his first home game!

6. Ronnie has been working a lot of time at an off duty security job so we haven't seen much of him lately. Last week we saw him on Tuesday and then the next time we saw him was Friday night. Don't get me wrong, he came home and all but we were already in bed and he would be gone again before we woke up. This job should only last another month or so but then baseball starts.....so it goes!

7. I tried a new recipe for New Year's Day. It is called Cream Cheese Cherry Vanilla Pound Cake and it is good!!! I even got a marriage proposal out of it, but it's just not the same when it comes from your brother-in-law!

8. The above recipe calls for one vanilla bean. Well after a trip to Walmart I was the proud owner of 2 vanilla beans fo $7.88!! I told Ronnie that we should go into the vanilla bean growing business.

9. I am trying to be a more positive person at work since I believe that an attitude (be it positive or negative) is catching. Some days are easier than others!

10. I had to fill up with gas this morning. I so love my new car on days fill up days! I don't miss the SUV at all!

Happy Tuesday!!

New Hopes for the New Year

2007-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone? I can't believe it is about to be 2008! At work we have a staff meeting every week and the first staff meeting of the year we have to bring our list of professional and agency goals for the new year. So I thought I would list some of the personal Armor goals and hopes for 2008.

1. Continued health and improved health. The platelet gods have been good to Zac this year. All of his counts have been at least low average. We are just hoping to improve his immune system so that he doesn't catch everything that is going around! The rest of us are going to try to get in better shape and hopefully lose some weight (except Justin). We are all going to try to take a multivitamin daily.

2. Ronnie and I are going to try to set good examples for our children. We started that in 2007 and hope to continue. Ronnie quit drinking, I am working on my temper and we have all been attending church at Trinity United Methodist.

3. We are working on reducing our debt. We have both been working overtime and watching our spending. In 5 years we would like to either trade up in houses are add on to this one. The housing market in Trinity has really grown since we moved here 12 years ago and there are a lot of options. We will stay in Trinity because it really is our home.

Individually I want to become more organized at home. I am really pretty organized at work, but not so much when I get home. Justin wants to improve on his athletic abilities and keep straight As for the remainder of 4th grade so that he will have had straight As all the way thru elementary school. Zac's goals are to get out of his booster seat in the new year and do better on his spelling tests. Ronnie is at work right now so he will have to update his later.

We are celebrating at church tonight. I hope everyone has a safe New Year's.

Diva Dog

2007-12-28T08:05:00.001-08:00

This is Sassie being rewarded after taking Christmas pictures with the boys. She is definitely the most spoiled dog in Trinity! But she is also very protective, especially of Justin & Zac. She doesn't like visitors after the boys have gone to bed and she lets anyone who knocks on the door know! Sassie's original name was Christmas Cookie because she was born the week of Christmas. She just celebrated her 3rd birthday. English bulldogs have an average life span of 8 to 10 years so she is "getting up there" in age. However she still likes to chase a ball and loves to be outside in the cool weather!

Wordless Wednesday Part 2

2007-12-26T12:45:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday Part 1

2007-12-26T12:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas All

2007-12-25T08:44:00.001-08:00

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!

We're back!

2007-12-16T17:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the absence. We have been busy with the usual stuff and basketball games and Trae and Christmas preparations and and and...(you get the picture.)

Ronnie will spend the next couple of days as a single parent since I will be out of town with work. So if you see the boys and their clothes don't match you will know what's happened. Other than his sense of fashion, he will do fine and the boys enjoy "guy days".

Baby & Skates

2007-12-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

Baby Trae has arrived. I'm going to let Kari & John post pictures first, but he is cute and all is well.

Last night was also my work Christmas party. We all went skating. Can you imagine a bunch of old people on skates?! Who do you call when 911 needs 911? It was so fun! It really is like riding a bike, it does come back. I hadn't had on skates in longer than some of our employees have been alive! But I didn't fall and did okay even though I didn't try anything fancy (no truckin'). Zachary had never had on skates before. He spent a lot of time on the ground in the beginning but was starting to get the hang of it before we were done. Since I'm not going to post baby pics, I'll post a few skating pics.

My favorite.

Justin holding his own.

And just to prove I skated too, that's me under the word music. We were doing the chicken dance.

Have a good weekend!

Zac

2007-12-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Zac had basketball practice Tuesday night and wanted some pictures taken of him. The little ones don't start their games until after the 1st of the year and I think he was a little jealous. So here is Zac:

Zac is #5. This is his favorite part of the ballgame. I don't know a lot about basketball but he is the position that plays at the half court line and tries to steal the ball as the other team crosses half court. He LOVES to steal the ball and is actually pretty good at it.

The man sitting on the side line is one of Zac's friend's father. His name is Jimmy and Zac adores him! He is constantly egging Zachary on and from the looks on their faces I'm pretty sure he is talking trash here.

20 Things

2007-12-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

My sister Klancy and several of her friends have been posting "20 things about me." So here is mine:

1. My name is Kelly and I am a Law & Order addict. Seriously the original, SVU, Criminal Intent. Love me some Law & Order marathons!
2. I type about 120 words a minute.
3. I love my job and I'm good at it. Probably because I am a serious adrenaline junky.
4. I am a horrible speller. Thank God for spell check! I can't even spell the city that I was born in without looking it up. (Schenectady)
5. I shoot a gun with my middle finger instead of my index finger. Always have.
6. I started out as a Pharmacy major and ended up with a degree in Public Safety Administration. Go figure.
7. I have been involved in a police chase, spent many hours in a patrol car, and have been to crime scenes but have never been arrested.
8. I had an earring cut out of my ear in 6th grade.
9. I do not have any sense of direction. None. I came home from college (in Mississippi) by way of Athens. I have gotten lost going home. My children have given me directions from their car seats. Thank goodness they have Ronnie's sense of direction.
10. I am not very fond of plaid. Catholic school flashbacks.
11. The worst day of my life was having to leave the hospital without Zachary after he was born. I literally could not breathe. I was supposed to go straight home and take a pain pill, doctors orders. Instead I went to Huntsville Hospital to see Zac. I remember vividly telling Ronnie he could drive me or I would drive my damn self. 11.5 I am very stubborn!
12. The Watergate break in happened on my 1st birthday.
13. I once wrote a book report on a book that I didn't read. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I got a B.
14. I hate surprises. Even good ones. I can't stand the fact that someone knows something that I don't know.
15. I have been to 22 states.
16. I have voted in every single election since I turned 18. My parents would disown me if I missed one. My father calls every election day to see if I voted.
17. I have had 2 people die on the phone with me. One committed suicide and one of a medical problem.
18. I lost my engagement ring for over a year and purchased a high dollar replica so Ronnie wouldn't notice. When he found the real ring, I had some explaining to do!
19. My favorite movie is Steel Magnolias. If Justin had been a girl his name would have been Shelby. She was also a Phi Mu.
20. I took Latin in school.

Happy Hump Day. Baby Trae countdown--1 day

Ten on Tuesday

2007-12-04T08:26:00.001-08:00

Okay, my parents are selling the house I grew up in. They close on Friday. It is a good thing since they have bought land in Trinity and plan on building close to us. The boys are lucky to have both sets of grandparents close by. However, it is still kind of weird that the Castleman house will be history, even though I haven't lived there in over 12 years. So I thought I would dedicate this 10 on Tuesday to the Castleman house.

1. When we moved into the Castleman house I was Zachary's age (Wow I just figured that out!) and when I left for Ole Miss Kari was Zachary's age.
2. The pool had to be the best investment my parents ever made. Kory is probably the best swimmer and Kari learned at the youngest age, but we are all good swimmers. I have a lot of memories about the pool but we all probably remember Kory "falling in" every year when we opened the pool. Seriously EVERY year the boy would "accidentally fall in" and it was COLD.
3. "The Creek" AKA the drainage ditch down the street. Yes Ronnie, we were city kids but we still spent hours exploring that creek. There is no telling how many pairs of shoes the 4 of us ruined in that ditch. It also had tunnels that went under the road and we would literally travel blocks under the roadway.
4. Our front yard (prior to the landscaping job in the early 90's) had a perfect baseball/kickball diamond. The crack in the driveway was home plate, the corner of the sidewalk was 1st base, the tree stump was 2nd and the water meter cover was 3rd. Needless to say the paths between the bases were well worn.
5. Watching Fireworks from Hills Department Store. Okay that is going way back. When Hills was still there they had a big fireworks display and we could watch it from the yard.
6. The hearth. That is the place were Kory and I had our first meal at Castleman. We ate fast food on the hearth. Okay, Klancy and Kari back before you guys were born getting to eat out was a big deal as was eating anywhere but the kitchen table, so I remember this well. It is also the place where over 50% of the kid pictures were taken. Okay, I figure mom is saying, "that's not so." But I challenge you to look at the picture albums. There we are in our Halloween costumes, our Christmas pictures, our Easter outfits, our matching pajamas and even our graduation cap and gowns.
7. The Driveway. In the early years we played basketball, rode our big wheels and our bikes, and even skated. As we grew up it was always full of cars! Think about it, 4 kids+2 adults=6 cars, plus a patrol car, plus any girlfriends/boyfriends/visitors. Dad taught me to park in the driveway by saying, "bounce off the opposite curb and swing into the driveway like your mother." Ronnie always says " you have the no parkingest family I have ever seen." The funniest memory I have of the driveway is when Dad thought he would save a ton of money by refinishing and adding on to the driveway himself (with Ronnie's help) instead of paying someone to do it. Well things weren't going as planned and the concrete was drying faster than he thought so he had to rent this smoothing machine thingy. It looked like a huge floor buffer. Well being the male that he is he didn't need to read any instructions and just plugged it in. The next thing I know he is holding on for dear life as this machine is going in circles and he is cursing! I thought Ronnie and I would pee our pants!
8. The 4th bedroom. It was the coolest room in the house. You had your own bathroom and didn't have to share with anyone. It had it's own entry/exit door. And it was part of what made our house different. Growning up you soon realized that almost every house in the neighborhood had the same layout as yours. A few were flipped, but still the same. Only a couple of houses had the 4th bedroom off the kitchen and ours was one of them. Now there were some downsides to the 4th bedroom. It had the smallest closet. It shared a wall with the washer and dryer so there was no sleeping late without hearing the washer and dryer. You were also the one who had to sleep somewhere else when company came into town.
9. Only my brother and sisters can truly appreciate this but here it goes. If you know my mother you know she is a clean freak! I however am not. It is probably my way of rebeling. But growing up on Saturdays we had to help clean the house and everytime I hear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbreGl_ZFM4 I feel the need to dust. Kory vacuumed, I dusted and we all listened to the music.
10. Castleman will forever be part of my stripper name. Everyone has one. It is the name of your childhood pet and the name of the street you grew up on. So mine would be Ginger Castleman.

Happy Tuesday.

A Busy Weekend!

2007-12-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

We just completed another busy weekend in the Armor household. It started with the Christmas parade on Saturday morning. Ronnie had to work it even though it was his off day (yeah for Overtime before Christmas!). Zachary had a hard time deciding if he would ride in the parade or stand in the front yard and collect candy. He finally decided to collect candy until the patrol car at the end of the parade came by the house and then he would get into it and finish out the parade route. I thought that was pretty well thought out for a 6 year old.

Ronnie looking all official. I love a man in uniform (or at least this man!).

Zac's friend Chey in the parade.

Good Old St. Nick.

Immediately after the parade everyone changed clothes and headed for Justin's basketball game. Unfortunately they lost, but they did play hard and overall it was Justin's best game this year.

Sunday started with Church and then Kari's last baby shower. Trae should be making his appearance this week. The boys are very excited! John decided he should be allowed to participate in the shower since "it's his kid too." So that made for an interesting addition.

For more pictures see Klancy's blog.

And after the shower, I attended the cookie swap at work. We had a good time and the cookies were all delicious.

Have a good Week!!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

2007-11-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

We received a thank you letter at work the other day from a very nice elderly woman who was assisted by one of our call takers. The lady was very pleased with the service she received and wanted to let the call taker's supervisor know. The lady was Kathryn Tucker Windham, author of 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. Well Ronnie and I were talking about growing up reading that book and had the best time trying to remember all of the stories! Ronnie remembered more than I did. I think it's because he is older! :) Anyway, we both decided that the boys are the perfect age to read about Jeffrey and his buddies. I mean you can't grow up in Alabama and not read this book!! I only wish that I had remembered this before Halloween that would have been perfect!

All in a Day's Work

2007-11-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

Warning: This is shameless propaganda so that my parents can see their money was well spent on an education.

Spanish 911

http://www.whnt.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=1940439&h1=News%20Channel%2019%20Special%20Report%3A%20Spanish%20911&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=258266&LaunchPageAdTag=Business&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.whnt.com/Global/SearchResults.asp%3Fvendor%3Dwss%26qu%3D911&rnd=92129758

A riveting segment on fire hydrants!

http://www.whnt.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=1912986&h1=Taking%20Action%20Investigation%3A%20Testing%20Fire%20Hydrants&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=315167&LaunchPageAdTag=Business&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.whnt.com/Global/SearchResults.asp%3Fvendor%3Dwss%26qu%3Dfire+hydrant&rnd=42586089

Ten on Tuesday

2007-11-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

1. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did, even if it wasn't a traditional one!

2. WAR EAGLE!! (Sorry Ronnie).

3. The boys didn't shoot anything last week, but they had a good time. Zac didn't talk much this trip but they did have to wake him up because he was snoring too loud in the shoot house.

4. I was able to get some heavy cleaning and sorting done while the guys were away. Justin's entire room (closet, dresser, desk and toys) has been done and now I'm working on Zac's.

5. For the first time in a long time I wasn't at Walmart before sun up on Black Friday. I didn't even leave home until after 6:30 that morning.

6. The boys are going on a field trip this Friday. The entire school is going to the circus. They are excited and I am too! They get to go to the circus and Ronnie and I don't have to go. Does that make us bad parents?

7. I am desperately wanting this:

Unfortunately it is a Dooney & Burke and comes with a

Donney& Burke price tag. I don't care about the name I just

like the pattern. If only the knock offs were still around!

8. I decided to do a good old stand by for the cookie/bar exchange.

Beaver cake.

9. Justin suprised both Ronnie and I this week. I was telling Ronnie about a blog that I find extremely funny. She is the mother of boys also.

In one of her recent posts she is discussing the "soldier boy dance". Justin overheard us and he said, "I know that dance." So we made him show us. He did know the moves and the song. When did he become a preteen? It seems that one of him buddies learned it from an older brother and then taught it to Justin and a few others.

10. Speaking of soldiers, below is the address to send a Christmas card to an American Soldier this year. If we each just send one when we are addressing our Christmas cards, it can make a real difference!

A Recovering American Soldier

c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center

6900 Georgia Ave NW

Washington, D.C. 20307-5001.

Have a Good Week!

Hunting

2007-11-21T08:47:00.001-08:00

The guys left last night for a few days in the woods.

Ten on Tuesday

2007-11-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hang on this is extremely random!!

1. Justin and Zac brought home their 2nd progress reports. Still all A's for the Armor boys!
2. Ronnie and I celebrated 12 years of marriage this weekend.
3. So that brings us to number three. How many of ya'll knew that Ronnie was late for his wedding? He was getting a tattoo. Redneck, but true.
4. Zac slept through what was to be his first hunting trip this year. He carefully laid out all of his camo, his thermals, his socks, his boots, his gameboy, and his hunting radio. Ronnie tried to wake him up twice but Zac would not get up, so Ronnie left without him. When Zac did wake up about 3 hours later he was heart broken! He kept crying and saying, "but I laid out all my stuff." Ronnie took him the next day and although they didn't see any deer he was a happy little hunter.
5. I'm attending a cookie exchange in a couple of weeks. Anyone know of a good recipe?
6. Along those same lines, Kari is expecting our first nephew right before Christmas. What do you get a newborn for Christmas who already has a room full of stuff?
7. Justin has a ballgame tonight against one of the other Trinity teams, so bragging rights are on the line.
8. Speaking of bragging rights, WAR EAGLE! Our home is divided. Ronnie and I were married during the Alabama/Auburn game 12 years ago. Justin and I are Auburn fans and Ronnie and Zac cheer for that other team.
9. Zac misspelled "huge" last week on his prespelling test. He spelled it "hoochie". I wonder what his teacher thinks of our house!
10. Got to love short work weeks!!

Happy Thanksgiving All!

Somethings run in the family

2007-11-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

Justin and cousin Jada T. are both the lucky #14 this year in basketball. Justin's team won their opening game 34-4 against Brindlee Mtn Saturday.

Zac's debut

2007-11-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

His line was, "Even though our show is done, our thankfulness has just begun." He said it perfectly!

Five on Friday

2007-11-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

1. Three day weekend!! Yeah!

2. I'm looking for a good book to read. Any suggestions?

3. Ronnie & I watched Knocked Up this week. It was okay, but way too much language.

4. Justin has guitar lessons today. He is learning "Sweet Home Alabama" and thinks he is soo cool.

5. Ronnie and the boys are spending the Winter in the Woods starting this weekend with youth hunting days. Hopefully that will lead to more pictures like:

All Camo'd Up

2007-11-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

That is what the boys (and Ronnie) got to do this weekend while I attended a baby shower for Kari. They went with Ronnie to training. (Check out Klancy's blog at www.thealfordfamily.org for pictures of the shower).

Playing Catchup

2007-11-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have been a horrible blogger. But I'm back and I have pictures!

First we had a great Halloween. Bynum came by to visit early and then we went to the Halloween festival at church and Zac even managed to sneak out for a little door to door action at Grandma's. Zac was a gangster and his favorite parts of the costume were the hat and sunglasses! Bynum was a pumpkin and Justin was "smarty pants".

And Ronnie aggravating Bynum by picking on Janna.

And a lot of partying leads to one tired little gangster. Tonita, this pic is especially for you:

Zac and his Bees (handmade by Tonita). As you can tell it receives a lot of love! Notice he also has all the accessories any little man could need--the remote and Ronnie's old cell phone.

As Promised

2007-10-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

Justin catching his first ever pass in a football game. This is the best photo I have of the catch because the ref was in the way. You can see the football and Justin is the one right in front of the ref. He did catch the pass and then the kid running toward him tackled him HARD! Justin still has a bruise under his chin.

Zachary and cousin Jacob relaxing at the football game their brothers were playing in. Zac is not much of a cuddler so you know how much he adores Jacob! Older cousins are sooo cool.

Another Season Ends..

2007-10-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

The boys have finished their fall sports. Zac's soccer team finished 3rd in the county which was the highest he has ever finished! He had a great year and really improved a lot! Justin's team was put out in the first round of tournaments but he also had a good year. Saturday he caught his first pass in a game, but then immediately got plastered by several players from the other team. Both boys had great coaches and really enjoyed this season! So now it's on to Basketball. No rest for the weary! Hunting season also opens and Justin starts guitar lessons Friday.

Sorry there aren't any pictures today, I forgot to bring my camera to upload any. I have a really good one of Zac and his cousin Jacob at the football game. I also have one of Justin sort of catching his pass. The referee was standing in the way so all you can see is the football and Justin's arms. Oh, well I tried!

We are participating in the WAFF canathon at work and the competition is fierce! I am heading the project up and had to do a bulletin board. So I decided to use can labels to decorate the board. Needless to say we have a few mystery cans in our cabinet at home now.

Ronnie and I rejoined the gym last night. We have been trying to get the motivation back for about 2 months now. A friend of ours died of a heart attack last Friday night and he was only 42 years old. His son was on Ronnie's baseball team last year and he was a really nice guy. So that kind of jump started our motivation! I'm going for my first work out tonight after work. I will reward myself with the tanning bed afterwards.

Zac wanted me to make sure to tell everyone that he shot a raccoon this weekend. Ronnie took him and Justin squirrel hunting but Zac got so excited when he saw a squirrel that he scared it off. So there was a raccoon in a tree and Ronnie let him shoot it. Well he did and actually hit it! However, the raccoon was 20 feet up a tree and was stuck in the branches so he didn't get to bring it home. I was glad because I'm not touching a dead raccoon much less cooking one!

R.I.P Gordie's Youth

2007-10-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated my boss, Gordie's 60th birthday. If you know Gordie, you know it is really hard to surprise him and even harder to make him speechless. Well after a week's worth of hard (secretive) work he was both surprised and speechless when a hearse arrived to pick him up for work today! Below are some of the pictures:

Have a Great Weekend!

Armor Advice

2007-10-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, I don't really have any big news but I liked the alliteration of the title. These are more suggestions and hot topics at our house recently.

1. Flylady is awesome. I HATE to clean (sorry Mom) but www.flylady.net is a new outlook on an old idea--do a little bit each day. Yes I have been told that my entire life but my answer has always been I work well under pressure (and I do). But I have to admit this helps.

2. Don Piper's book 90 minutes in heaven is the latest read in the Armor household. It is a good book, but if you get the chance to hear him in person it is much better than the book. He is very charismatic and was a news reporter before he became a preacher.

3. I am old. Yesterday was my anniversary date with the Police Department. I have been doing this job for 17 years now. Next year I will have done this job just as long as I haven't done this job. Even though it is really the only grown up job I have ever done, I was shocked when I did the math! It really does seem like just yesterday I was getting lost coming home from Ole Miss (I turned the wrong way coming out of Jack's). And to think I wanted to be a pharmacist! I found a career I enjoy and I am good at in the last 17 years, and I think my sense of direction is better (Ronnie doesn't agree!).

4. The Campbell's complete meals are wonderful! They are easy to cook, everything is in one box. My family will eat the entire meal--no leftovers. Even Zac ate seconds.

5 on Friday

2007-10-12T06:24:00.000-07:00

1. Thank goodness for 4 day work weeks! Monday was Columbus day.
2. We are going to the West Morgan vs. Winston County game tonight in Winston Co.
3. Ronnie has thrown his name in the hat for President of the youth league in Trinity. So not only will he be over Baseball this year but will also have a part in Soccer, Softball and Basketball.
4. I can't believe the stores are already putting out Christmas displays, it's not even Halloween!
5. Ronnie, Uncle Tim and the boys went to the range this past weekend and shot their rifles. Zachary is doing much better with his. Ronnie says he might even get to go squirrel hunting instead of squirrel scaring this year. Zachary says that since his daddy didn't even shoot a deer last year he shouldn't be making fun of a little kid. The boys had a really good time!

10 on Tuesday

2007-10-09T13:51:00.001-07:00

1. I LOVE the Dollar General in Trinity. No more running to Decatur or Moulton for that forgotten item.

2. The boys have fall break this week. Fall break is definately for the parents! Yea to no homework.

3. Just read a new book--Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. It is a great book if you like mysteries.

4. Along the same lines, Ronnie and I just watched We Are Marshall. It was sooo good. We usually don't like the same movies but we both give this one a thumbs up.

5. A week without sports practice!

6. I cut 2 fingers yesterday cleaning the tub. (The razor fell off the shower caddy and got 2 of my fingers in the process.) So I have sat through interviews today with bandaids everywhere!

7. Fall weather. I am looking forward to raising the windows and using the ceiling fans, maybe even this weekend!

8. As I said earlier I conducted interviews today for prospective employees. I can not believe the number of people who do not know how to dress or act in an interview. Obviously their mothers were not marketing teachers!

9. Ronnie fixed both porch lights this weekend. We now have an attractive fixture on the front porch and flood lights that work on the back porch. Thanks Honey!

10. I may have to take on another job to put shoes on my children. If Justin grows into his feet, he will be 7 feet tall! He is no longer in the children's sizes but has grown into the men's sizes. The exact same shoe 1 size bigger is sometimes as much as $20 bucks more.

Have a good week!

Homecoming Week

2007-10-04T08:22:00.001-07:00

This week is West Morgan's homecoming week and every day is a different theme. Well even the elementary school is in on the activities for the week and the dressing up thing has been quite an ordeal at the Armor household. Justin has become very concerned with what he wears lately and we believe it has to do with the discovery of girls. So tacky day on Monday was not high on his list of fun things to do, so he only wore different colored socks but matched perfectly otherwise. Zachary was all about tacky day. He finally got to wear "whatever I want even if it doesn't match." Tuesday was college football day and Justin did his mother proud and wore his Auburn shirt, while Ronnie dressed Zac in that other team's shirt. Tuesday was also the Homecoming party for the 2nd thru 4th grade and Zac was a little upset about not being old enough to attend. His comments consisted of "Bubba doesn't even dance good." After Ronnie and I explained that dancing skills were not the criteria for attendance only grade level and since Zachary is in 1st grade he will have to wait until next year he seemed content. Yesterday was cowboy day and Zac wore his cowboy hat. Justin had a field trip so he wore his regular field trip tshirt. But TODAY was Hawaiian day. Needless to say Justin's style is more preppy and Zac's is classic red neck so we don't have a lot of Hawaiian attire. However both boys have bracelets that say ALOHA and a surf board necklace from Hawaii. Sorry Aunts and Uncles, I can't remember if these were a gift from Uncle Kory and Aunt Jenna (who live in Hawaii) or if they were brought back by Aunt Kari and Uncle John when they visited Hawaii. Anyway Zac then needed a picture of Uncle Kory to tape to his shirt. I didn't ask I just gave him one after all it was before 7am and I am not a morning person. Well Zac taped Uncle Kory to his shirt and proudly pranced up and down the hallway until Justin asked what he was doing. Zac's reply, "duh bubba, Uncle Kory lives in Hawaii so now I have a Hawaiian shirt." This is what I love about Zac, his creativity and obvious displeasure when it is not understood. To him 2 + 2 always equals 83. Justin doesn't find Zac's uniqueness as endearing. He pleaded with me not to let Zac sit next to him on the bus this morning. Friday is School shirt day so things should be easier in the morning.

Ronnie makes history!

2007-10-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ronnie made history. The first shoplifting arrest in Trinity. (For those that don't know we now have a Dollar General. Are we uptown or what?) Well yesterday Ronnie was dispatched to a shoplifter and he had to think about what the code meant because he has never had that type of call before.
This is a picture of Ronnie that ran in the paper about a year ago making an arrest of a bad guy that was stealing from a business near the elementary school and they had to lock down the school while they searched the area and found the bad guy. Needless to say the boys were very popular the next day when they had the whole story straight from the police.

Teacher Conferences

2007-09-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ronnie and I attended the first teacher conferences of the year. We started with Justin's teacher, Ms. Hurt. As we expected Justin has all A's and is a very dependable and hardworking student. She then shocked us with telling us that Justin had the best sense of humor in her class. His table is the funniest table in her whole class. Justin sits with his buddies Judd B. and Dakota H. They are all good kids but funny is not a word we would have expected to hear describe them. At home Justin is very quiet and reads or is on the computer a lot. Even in his sports adventures he is very determined and serious. Needless to say this is not a side of Justin that we see much of. We also got to see the animals that his class has been observing (frogs, crabs, and worms). Justin is having the best time in science class observing the animals! The other thing he loves about Ms. Hurt's class is she is also interested in current events. Justin's latest news addiction is the FBI and spy camera incident in Lawrence County.

Next we went to Mrs. Malcolm's class to hear about Zachary. To say that we were a little nervous would be an understatement. This is the child who was placed in the at risk classes last year because he refused to take the letter recognition test because he thought it was too easy. So he spent the rest of the year with the kids in at risk classes. The teacher started out with, "When I leave the classroom, I leave Zac in charge." This did not surprise either of us. If nothing else Zac knows how to take charge of a situation (Ronnie thinks he gets that from him and I think he gets that from me.)! However, what she said next stunned us even more than Justin being funny. Zac has straigt 100's. Math, Reading, Spelling, and Language all 100! Don't get me wrong we know Zac is plenty capable. It's motivation that sometimes gets in his way. Mrs. Malcolm said he was a joy and all was well.

Ronnie and I fancy ourselves to be "in the know" with our kids so we were amazed at yesterday's turn of events. Justin has always been the studious serious child and Zachary the carefree child who always had a funny story to tell. It was really wierd to hear about the "school" personalities compared to the "home" personalities. We always knew they were day and night when compared to each other, but day and night between home and school was a shock! It was a good day and every parent loves to hear that their child is doing well. So in 2 weeks when report cards come home it looks like we will be heading out to dinner for a reward!

Armor Athletes

2007-09-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Justin as the QB

Zac scoring a Goal!

Tomorrow is game day--Trinity Tornado soccer tournaments start and West Morgan Rebels football plays in Hartselle. It should be an all day affair. Last week we started at 9:30am at West Morgan with football and ended up at 6:00pm with soccer in Priceville. Zachary is really doing great this year. He is as aggressive as ever but is also scoring about once a game and has perfected his elbow to the ribs. Last Tuesday he scored twice and assisted once. Justin (#18) is playing QB some and tight end. On Defense he has been playing free safety and outside linebacker. He is really enjoying this year and seems to have learned a lot.

Perfect Harley Riding weather!

2007-09-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today's weather was perfect for Harley riding. Ronnie had training today and couldn't decide if he should ride the motorcycle or take his car. He doesn't get to ride much these days because of all the practices and games for both boys. Up unitl the last week it has been too hot to enjoy riding much, but this week has been perfect. This picture was taken 2 years ago on our first long road trip to Orange Beach (about 6 hours).