ABC's

This ABCs toy is the best $10 I've ever spent (thank you, Black Friday and thank you, Jessica)! Reese loves it. At first, all she wanted to do was take all the letters off the fridge and throw them on the floor. Now, she has gotten the hang of learning the letters and learning the sounds that they make. She usually comes in the kitchen while I am making dinner or doing dishes and touches whatever letter is in the player and then walks right back out. Sometimes she will stay longer and play with a few letters and sing along. Occasionally, Reese comes in the kitchen and hits the button that plays the ABCs song over and over: "A, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, b, c...a, a, a, b, c" and I want to pull my hair out. But I still like this toy and love to see Reese enjoying it and singing along with it.

gleek, jr.

Reese loves the Glee soundtracks as much as I do! She definitely has her favorites and asks to listen to them over and over (and over). Her first favorite was "Gradidy" (or "Defying Gravity") and she wanted to listed to it nonstop. Her latest favorite is "Colors" (or "True Colors") and last week she started singing along. I tried so hard not to giggle so she wouldn't stop!

(this video got cut off when the camera ran out of memory space...but I thought it was cute enough to share)

Tupelo, the place to go!

No, seriously--that's the slogan. That and "We let our hospitality show!" That part really is true, though.

Reese and I have made a couple of trips to Tupelo this month. The first time Reese and I drove over for a couple days to see MommaCat, who was there on business. This weekend, the whole family went for my friend Logan's wedding. Logan and I were doubles partners in high school and we had a blast together (and we were undefeated in the state of Mississippi, I might add)! I was so excited when she told me her wedding would be after we moved to Alabama and I knew I would be able to go. I have been looking forward to this weekend for months!

When my mom was in Tupelo, we met her for lunch at Pepper's--one of my favorite places to eat in high school--and Reese was putting on a show. She kept giving hugs to my mom and telling me to take a picture. It was so precious. That kid is a ham!

(here she is pointing to my mom telling her to take the picture...she is a titch bossy sometimes...we're working on it)

When we went to Tupelo for the wedding last weekend, we stayed with one of my favorite families in this world--the Calhouns. I used to nanny for these kids during the summers and I loved it!

Reese and Anna. When I met Anna, she was about Reese's age and Reese does kinda look like Anna did when she was two.

Hudson and Reese. He was so sweet to let her play with his Lego's, even though she was a bit destructive with what he had already built.

Reese loved playing with their dog Max, and when she found his kennel, she couldn't help herself. She had to get in!

The wedding was a lot of fun and I saw so many friends (and teachers) from high school. I haven't been back to Tupelo in almost five years, and it was not always easy to remember some people's names. I had to hide behind Michael a couple times until I could recall a name and go say hello. (I didn't feel as badly when a friend who still lives in Tupelo told me he had the same problem.) But it was a blast to catch up with so many friends from THS!

The beautiful bride, Logan. She looked gorgeous and her dress was beautiful. As soon as I saw her, it was like we hadn't missed a beat, which is one thing I LOVE about her.

The Porter women.

The next day we got to spend some time with the Calhouns before heading back to Alabama. Here Reese is cleaning the windows with Hudson. Reese wanted to do whatever Hudson and Boatner were doing...even if it was housework.

Cleaning the windows turned into a bit of a water fight.

Boatner demonstrating the zip line for Reese. She tried it, but fell off before I could snap a picture.

It has been so much fun to get back to Tupelo after so long. It felt so normal to be there, even though so much time has gone by. As Michael and I drove down the road, I would say "that is where we did this" and "that used to be there". I think he was a little fed up with me, but he was a good sport. Tupelo holds such fond memories for me and I can't wait to go back!

Masters 2010

After 15 years of my Dad (and usually Mom, sometimes Dean) going to the Masters, I finally got an invite! (Well, I kinda invited myself, but that's another story.) It was about the most fun thing I have ever done! The golf course is the most beautiful I have ever seen and we had the best time walking the course. (It's quite a bit more hilly than it looks on TV.)

Reese loved it too! All that space to run around (even though you aren't supposed to run), are you kidding?

Lacey and Ashton were at the Masters and it was so much fun to get to see them. Lacey knows all the ropes and was kind enough to clue us in...she may have also had to help me with a few names of some of the golfers.
Kim brought some binoculars and once Reese got a hold of them, she was NOT letting go! She wasn't quite sure how to use them properly, but she was having a blast trying.
That is Tiger putting on the 16th green. Check out the crowd following him! One of the fun things the crowd loves to see is the golfers skip the ball across the water in front of the 16th green. It was awesome! Tiger and the two guys he was playing with all did it at the same time. The crowd went WILD!!!
Reese LOVES Lacey...and especially loved putting on her lip gloss. I think she sat on Lacey's lap putting on her lip gloss for about 30 minutes, without making a peep!

In front of the clubhouse. I love the flowers in the shape of the United States! So cool. Notice the line of people behind us, waiting in an insanely long line for their chance to take a picture in front of the clubhouse.

Tiger again. It was really interesting to see how the crowd responded to Tiger at his first tournament back after all the drama. They were very supportive and warm. I have to admit, I got a little giddy to see him golfing in real life!

Can you count how many cameras are pointed at Tiger?

As she does wherever she goes, Reese was making all kinds of friends at the golf course. For example, we happened to be walking by Rory Sabbatini as he was chatting with a couple people and he picked Reese out of the crowd and said, "How are you? You don't have to work today?" And Reese, in her sweet voice, said, "No, I don't have to work today." Then Mr. Sabbatini went over to his golf bag and got a ball to sign for Reese! And then took a picture with her!! It was so nice of him and we giggled about it for the rest of the day. After that Michael worked with Reese on saying, "Hi, Mr. Mickelson!" just in case we got close enough to try our luck getting an autograph from him.

Ian Poulter and Paul Casey. They were having some kind of contest during the practice round and were really fun to watch. I saw Ian Poulter waving his white towel, so I think he might have lost.

Having lunch at the clubhouse. Reese was making more friends. She got a little riled up and ran down to Nick Faldo's table to give him a smile. When Michael caught up with her and brought her back, she saw some cookies at a table along the way and said, "I need a cookie!" And, what do you know, the kind people at that table couldn't resist! Reese stole every one's heart!

Another highlight of the trip was going to the Mayor's Masters Reception. It was the 40th Anniversary of Billy Casper's win at the Masters in 1970. To honor him, the Mayor of Augusta gave him the key to the city. As one of Billy Casper's guests, we were included in the police-escorted motorcade to the reception. Michael and I were both pinching ourselves! It was really moving to hear him speaking about winning the Masters and coming back each year to Augusta National. After spending just a couple days there, I caught a glimpse of just what an amazing place it is!

Easter egg hunt, take two

Our apartment complex hosted an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter and Reese was thrilled at another opportunity to get more candy! This time she was prepared to actually "race" to get the candy-filled eggs, but even with a head start for the little kids, she was not quite ready to compete with the older kids. Although, I will say, she did pretty well for herself.

Here she is, so excited to start the race, scoping out the eggs' hiding spots.

Good eye, Dad!

Reese was pretty pleased with her loot! She wanted to sit right down and start eating it all.

Reese and her Dad have races on this grass everyday when he gets home from work, so I thought if I told her we were racing, she would get her competitive edge. (My favorite part is the girl who runs by panting...now, she is serious about her candy!)

After all the Easter egg hunts Reese had enjoyed, by the time I had one for her at our house on Easter morning, she was totally not interested. Well, I should re-phrase that. She was in no rush to put the Easter eggs and other goodies in her Easter basket. She knew she had no competition, so she was going to take her sweet time finding and eating her candy. Why not leave some Easter eggs out for later? She knew they weren't going anywhere. It was a little anticlimactic, to say the least. Oh, well, there's always next year!