AU Report via Special Guest Host

Hey Guys, Aubie here standing in for Michele. She took the day off from blogging to rest and take care of those sick kids of hers. I'll be reporting her long overdue post about their fun yet wet weekend in Auburn (my hometown) for the AU vs.WV game a few weekends ago. Man, I was so excited we had such a great game that night. My fellow tigers did a great job on the field regaining some respect we so desperately needed. And...oh sorry got carried away there. Just sit back and enjoy as I recap the Hicks' weekend for ya!

Here's those adorable Hicks girls, Clara Paige and Maggie with their AU tailgating buddy Walker Lindsey. They were taking in some much needed game day coloring. Doesn't every football fan settle down to color before a big game?? No, well when I do I only use the orange and blue.

And here's the newest member of the tailgating group sitting in Ms. Michele's lap. I think that's the cutest baby tiger-cub I've seen in a long time. This here is Miss Madelyn Lindsey. She's Walker's little sister. I've never seen a little tigerette smile so much. She sure must love her adorable furry mascot so much she can't stop grinning!!

And here's one of my favorite pictures of the group. Man, those Hicks Chicks sure are looking good in those cheer leading uniforms. Maybe one day they'll be out on Pat Dye field with me cheering on the Tigers to numerous victories. I think this was taken a little bit before the game started. Maggie was practicing her Touchdown signal to be sure she had it down pat!

And here's Ms. Michele with two of her AU cubs looking super. I'm telling ya that Hicks family is an AU family if I've ever seen one. I'm thinking this is Gracie and Clara Paige. I have a hard time telling those twins apart I tell ya. I may be one of the best college mascots around but I'm no good at picking out those twins!

Before the game started that night a TERRIBLE storm blew in and although Mr. Alex and Ms. Michele managed to stay dry by some small miracle, I've been told the camper was not the best place to be for Nana and the girls. However they did hold down the fort, as they say, and got to watch the game. However, some of those tigerettes were so pooped out from the day they just couldn't make it through the entire game. Gracie looks so sweet snoozing away as our Tigers played their hearts out.

But not to worry. Nana tells me that Miss Maggie was there right in front of that TV rooting on me and the Tigers. She was so interested and not happy at all at those West Virginia Mountaineers when they would get touchdowns and not let our Tigers get some. I'm so proud of the Hicks for raising those girls right. Not only to love me and the team but to love some SEC football!! (I've heard they like NFL too = but I don't know too much about that.)

Here's a picture of Ms. Michele and my friend Maggie looking so ready for some AU football!! I enjoyed having them in my town for a wonderful even if soaked football weekend. I hope they make it back again soon! I've enjoyed my time with you guys today but I've got to go get back on the field and help those boys practice. They need me around for moral support. Then later on this week we jump on a bus or plane to head up to TN to match up with those Volunteers. Watch out Smokey! So,until next time........

WAR EAGLE EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!


(Pictures of Aubie courtesy of Miss Gracie Michele Hicks Photography-unbeknown to her parents until viewing the camera the next morning!)

Update to the Update of the Newsflash...

Another one bites the dust!

Well Maggie and Gracie are BOTH sick. I took both of them to the Doctor today. It's the flu and the mycoplasma (forgive the previous mis-spelling) which happens to be walking pneumonia according to the doctor. SOOO, there you have it. All 3 kids all in the same week.

Lukily, I'm good so far. Not too stressed yet except the 3 hours of sleep I got last night.

Hopefully now with all the meds we are on our way to a speedy recovery. Let's hope so anyway!

Update on Newsflash...

Mom and gracie are sick too. Will this ever end?? Gonna be a LONGGG week. I've just been told by the Dr. that Lysol and hand cleansers don't seem to be working that effectively!! Just lovely!

Have a safe and germ free day.

Newsflash.......

We've been hit. Not by a tornado, not by flash flooding (well that's debatable), not by a train. Nope none of those but at this point those might be more welcome. The Hicks home has been graced with the Pig! Yup! We've got the swine flu. My precious Clara Paige now has it along with a nasty microplasma bacterial infection. Needless to say, we spent most of today (Sunday) at the Doctor's office and filling prescriptions! Woop Woop. That's just the way I want to live it up on a Lazy Sunday afternoon. However, anything for my girlies to feel better. Breaks my heart when they are sickly. I must add that while draining my baby's arm of it's blood to check for those pesky microplasms, she was beyond EXCELLENT!! The doctor complimented her with the coveted "Best Patient of the Day" award. She really is a trooper. No tears. A little panic but NO TEARS!! Tough little cookie, that one is. (She gets that from me-haha!)

So, I know I mentioned to you Tiger fans an AU post but I certainly felt this took precedence over that for the moment! I do have priorities and you should know by now that my family is my main priority everyday, all day! However, AU is right up there too. Heck I consider AU part of my family but it doesn't have the flu and I didn't actually give it life so it doesn't get all my attention, hugs, kisses and fanfare! My angel baby does. So, that post will make it's debut later on.

Now, let's all say a quick prayer that by some Miracle of the Almighty that the rest of us are spared this miserable experience. (Probably a long shot but one can hope right?)

Precious Memories, How They Linger.......

And I'm so glad they do.

Tonight on the way home from Gymnastics Maggie proclaims that she missed Pappy. We encourage the girls to talk about my Daddy but it's fewer and more far between that they spontaneously bring him up so I was caught off guard. She was so precious talking about a sign for a place that they saw on the way to gymnastics. It had a bird and a fish and a rabbit on it. And according to Mags, Pappy went with them there one time. I'm still not sure what sign she is talking about but it just touched my heart so deeply that she still carries those memories with her. I pray that they (my girls) always do. This began a conversation b/w Clara Paige, Maggie and myself (Gracie's with Nana tonight) about Pappy. I wasn't quite mentally prepared to have it but so glad we did. Clara Paige remembers him playing at the beach with them and she misses him so much. I learned that sometimes she looks at the picture of her and him in the bathroom and then goes to her room to cry. I confided to her that I do the same sometimes. I asked her if crying made her feel better. She said that it does b/c it makes her feel like he's with her. My babies are so precious and innocent. I personally haven't brought it up on the blog in quite a while. I'm still coping and the next few months are going to be rough ones. I think I'm dreading it more than I let on. In some ways things are so much better because we can celebrate my dad and my heart is so thrilled that my girls do have memories that they cherish in their hearts of him. I know I do!

So in the near future you may or may not be seeing posts related to my Dad. It depends on if I feel like putting it down in writing or not when that time comes. However, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to share with you a precious moment with my girls that I don't want to forget.

"We do not remember days; we remember moments." ~Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

Now, here's a warning --- tomorrow there will be an

Auburn post so beware or be joyful. It's your choice.

In Other News....

Ok so I'll veer off the AU stuff briefly just to tell you that.....

I'm tired of the rain. I'm thankful of it's blessings but I'm all the same just tired of it!!

Now onto a few non-Auburn related things so I don't lose all my Non-Auburn readers/viewers.

A few weekends ago, Meme & PawPaw took the girlies and cousin Jackson (with friend Hannah) to Mississippi to the Hummingbird Festival. I'm not sure they saw lots of hummingbirds but they had a great time anyway. Thanks Meme & PawPaw for keeping up with our little munchkins for that weekend!!

Also, I've failed to mention that my girls are now aspiring gymnasts. We have taken the plunge along with our good friends the Stricklands into the world of gymnastics. And they love it!! CP took while we were int Ttown but the this is the twins first time. They are all so cute climbing and tumbling around the gym. I'll be sure to take more pictures and keep everyone updated!!

(photo compliments of Donna Strickland as my camera's battery was dead that day - I know, I know what a good mom I am right?!?)

Just in Case.....

ya didnt believe me the last time I told ya......

I said, IT'S GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!!!!!

More AU Fun!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I Said It's Great

TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!!!

Yes, Sports Fans it's that time again and if you just can't stand anymore of my Auburn ranting and such well as Karen Carpenter sang, "We've Only Just Begun" my friends. I am a bit behind but let me entertain you with a re-cap of our opening weekend. Unfortunately Alex was in Atlanta working the Nascar Race so he had to miss it. SO, my mom and I took the girls down on Friday to spend the night at Lake Martin with some special family friends, Linda & James Clemens. It was a great time.

*I didn't get any good pics of Linda and James w/my camera so I'll add some later.*

We took a moonlight cruise on the pontoon boat and although you can't make it out too well here, there was a absolutely beautiful full moon reflecting off the water! It's not everyday I get to see such beauty in nature. It was so quiet and peaceful it just reminded me of God's magnificence in His creation!

Here's me and my Clara Paige riding along on the boat after dark.

My girlies just loves swimming around in the lake water. Me, well I'm not so fond of it so I'm glad they could touch the bottom so I didn't have to be in there with them. They enjoyed learning they could float around in their life jackets.


And on Saturday we headed to that Loveliest Village I adore so much. It warms my heart to see my girlies all dressed up on a game day sporting those orange and blue colors I'm so proud of!! We walked around w/Nana and picked up a few game day goodies.

And that evening Clara Paige and I set off to our seats in the sky to watch my Auburn Tigers start their 2009 season against LA TECH under new Head Coach Gene Chizik (Cheezit-see earlier post).
---side note see Bowling Family blog for more on the Cheezit subject. It's pretty cute stuff---
Here's my oldest pride and joy in the stadium at the university that provides a great deal of Pride & Joy of it's own for me and the whole family!! I can't begin to explain nor do I have the time to tell you why I have this great love and attachment to Auburn University(*see last years Fall posts-I think I did a good job of it then) but I can say the feelings are there and they ain't going no where!!! No matter who the coach is or what the score is (however right now I'm pretty darn happy with those two particular points) I'll love my Tigers and what they stand for always!!! It's more than a family tradition for us, it's a spirit and a love that goes beyond the pigskins!

Alex and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to take our girls to Auburn to experience what it's all about but more importantly we love being together and making these excellent memories to cherish forever.

And here's a pic of me and CP the nice lady next to us took b/c I was trying to take one of those awkward self portraits. Guess she knew I wasn't doing such a hot job of it. haha.. Our plan is to rotate taking the girls to the games so next time you'll see one of the twins in the stands. But I must say my Miss CP was just excellent through the whole game. She was patient and as long as she had her snacks she was just peachy!! She never complained at all and we stayed till the very end of the game!! Not to mention the hike back to the truck we had to make!! I was so proud of my lil' Tiger!!

It is certainly great to be an Auburn Tiger and if you don't agree then you've never been one!! :)

Love to all and just know I don't mean to be obnoxious, I'm just that passionate!! Can't wait to see what we put out there for West Virginia this weekend.

My camera broke so no pictures from this last weekend's MS St. game. Sorry to some and probably a relief to others I'm sure!! But I must admit I hate I did not get a picture of the incredible flight of our own Bald Eagle, Spirit, who flew with red, white and blue streamers to honor 9/11. Made me breathless.

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!

ps-Kudos to my cousin Courtney for wearing Orange to the game last weekend as she is a Bammer!! You are better than me my dear!! I was impressed.

Gotta Love it!!

Just have to say a big WAR EAGLE EVERYBODY!!!! What a great game!!

When We See Ole Glory Flyin'

Eight years ago today will never be forgotten. I know exactly where I was just like you do I'm sure. Please take a moment to remember all those who lost their lives on that terrible day in our country. Also, say a quick thanks to ALL the service men and women who helped then and are still serving now to preserve our peace, safety and freedom! Be proud to be an American! I know me and my family are!!

God Please Continue to Bless America!

Brett Favre Sears Commercial

OK so I have some blogging to continue catching up on but first I had to share this with ya. It's just too cute not to!! If you know me you know I love me some Brett Favre. Forget all the media drama and indecisiveness on his part I still love him. And don't worry Alex knows all about my little obsession and he's ok with it.

So click on the link and enjoy.

I love a man who can laugh at himself!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmMLBiXQY7g

I tried to put it directly on my page but You Tube doesn't work that way or at least I couldn't get it to!!

Catching Up

So I need to do some marathon blogging so I can get all caught up. I'm going to forget all the good stuff if I don't. Anyway, here's another attempt at it.

A couple of Saturdays ago we went with our good friends the Stricklands to their lake cabin on Lake Martin. Here's the back view of the cutest little swimmers on the lake that day.

And here's the front view. Cute from both angles I think.
From left to right: Keely, Megan Brimingham, Erica, Maggie, Gracie and Clara Paige. It was an awesome day with great friends. Keith's mom & step dad fixed us the most amazing dinner that day. It was just the right finish to a wonderful day on the water. Thanks you guys so much!! Let's do it again.

The night before our Lake adventure we had a sleep-over with Miss Megan Brimingham. She is a good friend of our girls. The twins and Megan are in the same Sunday School class. Megan has been able to tell the twins apart since they were tiny. She rarely gets it wrong. Here they are all snuggled up on their pallet in the living room watching some Disney Channel.

Before bedtime the girls made some brownies. That's right I gave them chocolate before bed. Hey, it was a sleepover.

And earlier in the evening they played some serious dress-up. You gotta love this crew. They all like the same things: chocolate, eating, dressing up, eating, singing, dancing, eating and well, you get the idea. We were so glad to have her as our guest and definitely will do it again!!

Pre-K Cuteness

So it occurred to me that I need to post about my babies first day of preschool. It was a very special day for them and myself. Maggie and Gracie have been ready to go to school since CP started Kindergarten. I watched my baby girls walk into their class like the big girls they are and settle right into their classroom like pros. They have never been to preschool before. My wonderful mom has kept them for us since they were born so it was a big day for us all. As happy as I was that they were delighted in starting "school," I did have one unexpected tear show up as I drove off that day. However I was just fine after that because I knew they were so excited about it all.

Here they are sitting down to color their first picture in their new class. Their teacher's name is Ms. Lori and they love her. She's cute as can be and seems to love my girlies. They also have triplet little boys in their class that aren't identical but look very much alike. What a group to try to get all figured out. Good Luck Ms. Lori.

I'm sure I'll have lots of stories to share with you throughout their school year!!

It's That Time Again.......

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's that time again ladies & gentlemen!!!
It's time for me to get a tad obnoxious about my favorite place on Earth!!
Nope it's not Disney World (but that one's close)!! It's the loveliest village on the plains! And if you don't know then you ain't from around these parts are ya?

Here's to a great beginning to the 2009 College Football Season!! Hope your team wins but only if they aren't playin mine!

Plus, in case you forgot we have a new coach this year. And at our house his name is COACH CHEEZIT!! Yep, you heard me right. Last year we had COACH TIGERVILLE and now COACH CHEEZIT!! We sure are good at renaming people in our house arent' we?? But it sure is funny!!

Aren't these just the cutest little Auburn Tigers Cheerleaders you've ever seen?? I think so if I do say so myself.
We're heading down that way this afternoon for an AUsome AUburn weekend with some great friends!! Can't wait for the game tomorrow evening and to see the Eagle fly and after the goosebumps from the inspiring pregame video my Tigers will take the field for a new year and new start!!

GOOOooooooo Tigers!!!!!!!!

ps- and again my pictures downloaded blurry. They look great on my computer but yucky on the blog. Maybe on your compute they look fine but right now on the blog they look grainy. Any help?? And no ugly Auburn jokes. I don't allow such blasphemy on my page!! :)

New Friends

So I just had to post this quick funny for you. On the way home from preschool Monday, Maggie announced that she had 2 new friends at school. I'm guessing they are my Gracie's friends too by default. Anyway, I asked their names and Maggie says as honestly as her sweet little face can say it that her friends are named "Sitney" and "Glowey." Huh?? I thought. So I asked again to be sure I didn't misunderstand her and got the same answer. Now, I've met "Sitney's" mom so I know her name is truthfully Sydney but to my Mags it's "Sitney." And she stands firm on that too. Don't try to convince her othewise. If you ask Gracie, she will take it a step further and tell you the poor girls name is "Cindy." Who knows!?!?! I give up on that one.
So knowing I'll lose that name battle I move on to our new buddy "Glowey." I try my best to convince Mags that her name is probably (from my best guess) "Chloe." Mags insists that I am not hearing her correctly and that the girl's name is "Glowey!" So after several times going back and forth with Mags, my sweet Gracie chimes in and informs me that, "Yes momma I do think her name is Glowey. Maggie is right."
So, there you have it. Until I can look at the class role and solve this hilarious name mystery, we have 2 new friends and they are so called: SITNEY & GLOWEY!!!

Glowey, really?? Isn't that the funniest thing? All I can think about are those Glow-worm toys from several years back. Kids never cease to amaze me and mine are certainly no exception!!