Tailgating, Baby Waiting, Orange Stores and More!

It’s basically June now, which means that it’s only three months until football season. Which means, of course, that my husband’s mind is filled with grand plans and lofty ideas about tailgating and ballgaming.

Every year he adds something new to his Alabama Football “experience”. Last year it was a small(-ish) flat screen TV.

Because no tailgate party is complete without a television, apparently.

To fuel his new device, he had “borrowed” satellite signal from one of our tailgating neighbors.

So, ever since last football season, he’s been planning out how to get satellite service of his own. We have cable, so that’s no help to his grand plans. However, through a complicated web of “borrow this, borrow that, here’s my old equipment, you can pay $10 to have an extra dish on my service” with all of his tailgating compadres, he has been hard at work rigging up his “new” satellite dish:
(Obviously, his test television is not his tailgating flat screen.)
If I understand correctly, that dish is sitting atop a $2.62 piece of PVC pipe, which is now attached to a tripod ordered from ebay (rather than that nice cart that he was experimenting with when I got home from Lifegroup last Sunday night).

So yesterday, he needed to stop by The Home Depot (or “The Orange Store”, as Ali calls it) to get a few more odds and ends for his great project.

(You really should see his workshop – it looks like he is tracking UFO’s or something in there.)

While he hunted and shopped around, Ali and I were minding our own business playing on the “Balance Beam” that she had found (she really is absolutely obsessed with Gymnastics in every way. I think we might start lessons in the fall).

However, several of the associates (who looked quite bored) were entertaining themselves by watching her. Then a very nice older gentleman went and got her an apron of her own, and wrote her name on it and everything:
(Here she is showing me the vast lotion inventory that they have. She was trying so hard to squeeze that Gorilla Glue out onto her hands.)

Oh – speaking of her hands, she has apparently been watching other women (much more girly than her mother, seeing as how I never do this) who have their fingernails painted, and has been begging me to paint them for weeks. She’s always wanted her toes painted, but this fingernail painting business was a first.

So finally, on Memorial Day, I had no more excuses. I agreed to paint them, and braced myself for the chaos-mess that would ensue.

However, much to my surprise yet much like the first time I painted her toenails, she gladly sat so very still to let me paint them. And all week long, she’s been showing them to EVERYONE:
And, a wonderful side benefit of this was that I was able to break her of her long-standing habit of chewing on her fingers in one day, simply by telling her that she was going to mess up her fingernail polish.

Who knew that painted fingernails were so useful in training a toddler?

Well, I’m off to get ready to have twins. Tomorrow is the big day!!! AJ is going to be getting either a new baby brother or sister in the morning!!

She’s spending tonight and tomorrow night with us, and I am undertaking the grand adventure of getting the girls up very, very early and taking them to the hospital in time to for the grand announcement and baby introducing!!

I’m actually very excited about it. Since I have their kid, I have every excuse in the world to come to the hospital for the birth without being that weird friend who shows up that you really wish would go away and come back in a few days.

So, be expecting a fun blog sometime tomorrow on the grand unveiling of the new baby and toddlers running wild around the hospital!!