Woo Pig Sooie

It had been a while since my last in person football game, so a special day was had by Matt and me at the Razorback game in Little Rock this weekend. As you can tell, we got the cheap seats in the upper corner but had a nice view of the field (and most, if not all the points the Hogs scored, were down on our end, so it ended up being A-OK).

When we walked into the game, the AR Department of Homeland Security was handing out Emergency Preparedness guides. Bad omen, you think --- well, at least this game was pulled out in the 4th quarter - and the rocks did not rumble to cause a massive earthquake that the pamphlet expressed was going to happen. Good thing too, because I am apparently woefully unprepared for an emergency of that magnitude. However, when Arkansas was playing very poorly, I did brush up on my "to do" list in an emergency, and tried the block out the fans around me yelling only what I am sure, in some other language, was positive reinforcement. I'll have to work on always having a 1/2 tank of gas.

This year is the 60th anniversary of War Memorial Stadium, and many tributes by the band, players, and stadium staff helped make it memorable. I loved how the band made a 60 and played Happy Birthday.

Typically, War Memorial is a very loud place; but I think that the life was just sucked right out of the fans until the rally in the 4th quarter. It was hard to watch, but even harder not to think about what the season may look like in October and November. You want to be an optimist, but those pesky realist thoughts are staring right at you on the field.

It was nice to revisit the game that I spent many Saturdays attending while in college. The traditions, the crowd, and the loyalty rushed me back to a time before kids, jobs, and marriage that I rarely drift away to in my daily life of potty breaks and toy playing. It does feel like a lifetime ago, but then again it was 10 years since I first arrived on campus. Man, I am no longer a spring chicken :)

Quick Question to Kristina and Shannon - Do either of you guys have the picture that we took with the Old Fan with the Scooter our freshman year? The guy that we never saw again, and we assumed that something must have happened to that devoted fan? I think my picture is gone for good :(

Pray for Leighton - Updated

One of my sorority sisters just gave birth to a little boy ten weeks early with a heart condition. You can visit their blog here. Say a little prayer for Leighton and his family today and tomorrow, as he is having his first surgery tomorrow to help repair his heart.

I am planning on putting a NICU survival kit together for her like the one here. Let me know if you would like to help out.

UPDATE: I talked to Laine today, and they have had a great past few days since the successful surgery on Thursday. I dropped off the care package at the hospital, but missed them. Hopefully, I'll see them all soon.

Bye Bye Summer - Hello Fall

It's September already! We are left with the feeling of a fleeting summer, but gladly welcome in the football, pumpkin, and apple season that is quickly coming upon us. I think I'll use this post to update you readers on Lipsey News.

Russ

Matt and I both agree that Russ has really grown up this summer. Back in June our little boy was an immobile, but happy baby. Now we have a crawling and creeping baby who is getting better by the minute with standing on his own. All before the 9-month anniversary of his birth! So, I don't really think that we have the "2nd child will do things slower,' at least not in this regard. He is also eating everything in sight. Obviously, the young man has found the great southern love of corn on the cob; but he is not picky about his food. Just cut about anything up for his 3 teeth to chew, and he is good to go! A happy toy player, and a good sleeper. The ultimate low maintenance boy!

Meredith

Our little love bug has had such a fun summer, and it has been wonderful to watch her learn more skills like doing floor puzzles, singing whole songs, and helping make cookies. Our sweet girl has moved up to a new hall at church - again showing us how she is growing up to become a wonderful young lady. She is obviously still very silly - and has enjoyed new games like being pulled on the red blanket through the kitchen and other hard floor, sitting on mom and dads shoulders to touch things, and the frog song. She still likes her favorite books, Little Einsteins, and counting the balloons by the car dealerships. She is starting the questions phase of toddler hood, so we constantly hear "What is it" or 'Who is that" everywhere that we go. She is generally a cooperative and caring big sister.

Mom and Dad

Aside from herding our flock of two, we have been busy with general housework, job work, and starting a new school year at church. Matt has recently joined another bridge group, and I think will enjoy playing with other people of his own gender :) Other than gearing up for Fantasy Football and College Football, we have been half-way paying attention to political coverage (we tend to be like most Americans and find our most digestible news coverage from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report -- sad, but true).

As for me, playgroup has been going very nicely and we are hoping to get out for a field trip soon with the kiddos. Library story time starts this week, and Bible study starts in two weeks; so I finally feel like my routine is getting back to normal. The new 1st graders are a wonderful group, and we have averaged about 9 in our first three weeks with them. I am currently taking a sabbatical from orchestra to teach the pre-k choir up at church. This is also a good sized group (12) who keep me on my toes for an hour on Wednesday nights

I think that this gets you updated on our life and times! I pray that your new school year has started off well.

New Playgroup in NLR

Several of you know that I have felt the Lord leading me to start a playgroup in NLR, so this is my attempt to honor him, have a good time, and get a chance to interact with other moms and kids. We will be meeting on Fridays at 9 at the Christian Activities Center (CAC) of Park Hill Baptist during the open play time until around 11. It is VERY Informal, so feel free to come late or leave early. We will pull out some age appropriate toys that are in the gym, and just kind of take it one week at a time. Let me know if you are interested in coming, and I'll give you more details via e-mail.

Playdate at the Wonderplace

Meredith, Russ, and I met up with Laura and Zek at the Wonderplace today. We had a fun time, and the kids loved all the different areas. Meredith probably could have gone all day, but at least the offer of "Chicken and Fries" from Chick-fil-a got her motivated to walk out the door without a major scene. The pictures have quite a bit of glare, but some of them were just too cute not to post.

Watch Out for This Toy!

So, here is my lesson for the week. Once a toy begins to break, just pitch the whole thing:)

Here is the back story. One of the very few things that Meredith liked about MDO were the vacuum play toys. So, one day I was at a consignment shop, and saw this toy for $1.50 and thought "Excellent, what a steal!" All things went well for the next couple of months, until the attachment part fell off. So, no big deal -- Meredith still played with it and enjoyed pushing around the toy.

That is until this week. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but while I was playing with Russ/watching TV/just minding my own business, my daughter comes swinging at me with this toy vacuum attachment. First, every boy out there better watch out, because my daughter has an arm -- and she is not afraid to use it! After placing her in time out, I walked out of the room to collect my thoughts and let the stars stop coming (don't worry, I didn't have a concussion); and then quickly took the offending toy out to the trash. A nice little goose egg appeared after a couple of seconds (which I later learned is actually a good thing - bleeding outside of the skull, as opposed in inside), but has now become a pretty bruise.

Don't let that nice smile and funny eyes fool you.....it is not a toy that you want to mess with! Or maybe, just not a toy for the Lipsey kids :)

Music Camp

It's the last week in July, and that means one thing -- PHBC Music Camp! Think VBS only the kids learn a musical in a week and perform it on Sunday night. The kids do all sorts of things -- like drums, handbells, xylophones, ukulele, snacks and recreation, and bible study. I'm teaching the older kids (5th and 6th grade) Bible Study, and we had a great first day. If you live in the area, and have a 1st through 6th grader, bring them on over to Park Hill. Musical fun will be had by all!

Image from: http://www.littlebigstuff.com/music/music.html