One town. One team. One dream.

One town...One team...One dream...

We are in our second third undefeated week of our season. And our "boys of fall" are looking, full speed ahead, for the chance at a State Championship. We're a small town with big dreams, that never gives up.

Football Season...nothing is Finer!!

Great American Backyard Campout

Last weekend Coach was away at the state university with his team for basketball camp. They always go the same weekend as The Great American Backyard Campout, and the kids are always disappointed that Daddy can't join in the festivities I try to plan.

However, disappointed tears always turn to excitement and awesomeness when I mention my single girlfriend's name... (My daughter says "that girl is so awesome!") They love when EM makes a visit, and it's usually the same weekend every year. Last year we had to settle with a dinner at Friendly's and half-baked smores in the oven due to loss of power from horrendous thunderstorms, but this year we went all out!

We planned true campers fare:

Hobo Burgers

Cheesy Potato Packets

Grilled corn-on-the-cob

Jiffy Pop

and of course, S'mores!!

Top it off with the showing of an outdoor movie and camping out in the tent.

No silly...you know our history!! Not outside with this visitor coming through our picnic (which, I love ya EM, but high-tailing it in the house in front of the children....c'mon!??!!)

There's no picture-perfect postcard camping going on in our cozy neck of the woods... We pitch our tents in our family room! This campsite includes A/C!!

Spending a "girls weekend" along with my kids is as about as much fun as EM's Cha Cha Vera... I just love it!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

Finer Things Friday...Road Trip

On the road again....We can't wait to get on the road again.... (you know the song!!)

The Cozy family is on their way to Maine tonight! It'll be clam "chowdah", "lobstah" (okay, trying to mimic the accent here), and Maine Diner's mac-and-cheese for the next few days. (Did I mention a visit to Stonewall Kitchen??!!)

We can't wait!!

Skipping rocks from the rocky shores of the Atlantic, driving on the coast, visiting our kids most favorite sweet shop, walking up to the lighthouse, and spending time with our family.

It doesn't get any finer than that!!!

Image credit click here

Finer Things Friday...Hellllloooo Mr. Jackson!!

Doing laundry in my new front loader...I love. With that said, I don't love doing laundry. But finding tips in the rubber door seal every now and then is a little added bonus..."chump change" mostly. I'm lucky if I can grab a DD's at the end of the week...

I got excited when I found what looked to be a bill...no quarters or dimes this time!!! An actual bill!! (How did I miss that one when I checked all the pockets, I thought??)

Upon further examination...Hello Andrew Jackson!! Jackpot!!


Linked to: Finer Things Friday

Finer Things Friday: Signs of Spring!

Finally...some sunshine and beautiful blooming around here!!

Our cherry blossom tree is right outside our dining room doors and our lilac bush outside our kitchen windows, so the fragrance wafting through our home on warm, windy days is unbelievable!! (Not so great for the allergies, but after an Advil Sinus, or two, we really enjoy the beautiful scents!! :) )

Hopefully, signs of good things to come!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

Finer Things Friday: Report Card and Conference Time

It's that time again...report cards and parent teacher conferences. Oh, how I remember the excitement, and sometimes the anxiety (oh, yes!), of my parents getting ready the night of parent-teacher conferences at my school. I still recall the way they would come through the door whether the report was going to be good, or, "you have some things to work on..." (You see, I was the little "social butterfly"). Well, fortunately for me, I turned out okay. And my children, they're even better!

Our first grader received yet another picture-perfect report card, and we had another enjoyable conference with her teacher. She is right on target, and is thriving with the challenging enrichment work she is given. Yes, she too is a little "social butterfly" per se, but "continues to be a great example for others". Oh, we're so proud!

And our four year old...he too has made great strides this year in his first year at preschool! What a great conference we had for him as well! He is a "leader" in his classroom, and "will make one super athlete", according to his teachers. (Well, did he have a chance otherwise??!! Coach was thrilled to hear that!!) He counts up to 29... a record!

With two teachers as parents, our children don't have a chance when it comes to "goofing off" in school. They know the importance of education, studying, respecting their teachers and helping others. We couldn't be more proud of our little students!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

Finer Things Friday: Helping Others

Yesterday I pulled into the gas station to fill my tires and found a little old man at the air filling station. A farmer, no doubt, probably one of the last original ones in our little tiny-town. Wearing what may be an original pair of Dickies navy blue work pants and matching shirt and thick suspenders, he was struggling to read the directions to fill his farm truck filled with hay. I hopped out and quickly asked if he needed some help. He wasn't sure and explained he had just been across the street to the other filling station where they "robbed him of fifty cents". He explained that the air was blowing all around and he couldn't get it to work, and no one would help him. His tires looked like they hadn't been filled in years. So, I showed him where to find his poundage for the pressure (inside the drivers side door) and programmed the machine. We filled them up, and good thing... they were at 15 pounds!
When we were finished with both his truck and my van, he said "Young lady...I'm 80-sumpin' years old, and it has to be over twenty years since someone offered to help me. Thank you."

You're welcome! And if it's been over twenty years, then something is seriously wrong with this world.
Help each other out...nothing can be Finer!!

Finer Things Friday: Fine Weather BBQ!

It's only March, and yes, this could be a tease, but today (Thurs.) hit a high of 69° so we filled the grill and had our first BBQ of the season! I quickly made some phone calls and rounded up my parents and my sister and her family...the kids were in the fields playing, the Itunes were playing, and we were wishing it was Friday!! (but quickly remembered it was a school night, and so the party was a quick one!!) Tomorrow's forecast, as well as the weekend's: 70°+ and sunny! (And there's another party planned for Saturday!!) Bring it on!!

Being outside all day, basking in the sunshine, soaking in the Vitamin D, and spending time with family...that's a Finer Thing!!

Finer Things Friday: Prom Dress Shopping!

It's that time again!! Prom!! I loved prom!! I love it so much, I ended up going to about 6 of them... My own, then other schools with guy friends of mine. There's just something about prom. The dress, the dancing, the midnight breakfasts afterward, then going to the shore that weekend. Those were the days! (I wish they had a prom for husbands & wives! My husband chaperone's his High School's prom, but I'm not allowed to go! Believe me, I asked, and begged!!) Oh well, guess I have to wait for the Senior (as in Senior Citizens) Prom when I grow up!!

My niece (she is 5'9"...tall, thin, and beautiful!!) is valiantly shopping for her dress, and has asked me to come along for my fashionista opinion!! Oh, I feel valued!!
Here are the final contenders:

My favorite...looks absolutely stunning on!!

This one...

And this one...only in red

Updated to say: And the winner is... Dress #1 (my fave) in the green (the color of dress #2). Turns out that was her favorite color, and she is wearing the dress... The dress will be in next week! What fun we had!! It was such a difficult process though. Best of luck to my sister when it comes times for Bridal gowns!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Another birthday. Ugh. Well, it beat's the alternative, though...at least I'm vertical! (as my husband always jokes!) Today has been one of the best birthdays in a long time... everyone's healthy (aside from my becoming deaf in one ear). I'll take that any day rather than events of birthday's in the past. God knew I could not handle another one like that!

Instead...

Here's what I woke up to this morning... Snow Day!! My whole family is home with me today!!! I am a snow lover, so this is the greatest gift!! We're in for up to two feet here in the Northeast!! WOO HOO!!

Updated 2/26/10: Day two of our snow days! Everyone is home bound again! Loving every minute of it...playing games, baking, crafts (all in between power outages)... though since we've now gotten 3 feet of snow, it's actually too high to walk in, so we haven't been out much, except for the patio area that my husband keeps shoveling. The snowdrifts are 4ft+! Thank goodness for snowplow service!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

You Get What You Work For

Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.

Any coach's wife can relate to this post...

This time last year we were in the middle of a tough basketball season. A "rebuilding" year. Usually, it takes a good 3-4 years to take over and rebuild a team. Well, today we're celebrating an 8-win run, and a seat at the State Playoffs. We got the 5-seed in Counties, and, yes...we're going to States!!!! God is Good!!
What a great team my husband has this year, and they are walking with their heads high, and full of glory. We're so proud of them! His message to them this season has been "Remember...there is always a little boy in the stands that wants to be just like you, don't disappoint him" and they have risen to the occasion!
Commitment, Teamwork, Responsibility, Focus, Communication, Preparation, Effort, Confidence... That is our Basketball Team this year...and we are celebrating them on this Finer Things Friday!!

Our Little Dot on the Map

Painting: Small Town USA

Beverly A. Mitchell

I am celebrating so many fine things this Friday, so I'll have to share them for the next few weeks...

I am so thankful for living in my teeny-tiny little town. The kind of place where the postmaster lets my little guy post date the mail when we go in. He even knows all of the post office boxes by name and the face to go with the number!!(comes in handy when you have thank-you notes to send, and a class list with no addresses...only phone numbers!!). The kind of place that people you don't even know (yes there are some here we don't know, believe it or not) wave to you when you pass by. The kind of place where coaches from other "smallish, but not teeny-tiny" towns, rivals, email you to congratulate you on big wins. Where people are genuinely happy for one another. It takes a village to raise a child, and I'm so thankful to be living in a great one!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

2010...

Happy New Year to All!!

Wow....can you really believe it's 2010??!! Shouldn't we all be "driving" around in flying cars, having a robotic oven prepare our meals (think Jetsons), etc??!! Or that's what we thought 2010 would be like, way back when!!

We happened to have a super New Year's Eve last night. It wasn't looking too promising early on, with snow, a cancelled babysitter, and so on, but ended up being one of our most enjoyable. Each New Year's Eve since we've been married with children, we have never gone out. We always made a "snacky" dinner, with mini-sized foods, etc., donned our hats and tiaras, and blew a few horns. We danced with the kids, and had our own "Rockin Eve" of sorts. We were pretty much in bed by 10pm. We always had a great time.

Our New Year's Eve "venue"

This year though we were invited by two other couples to join them at a local restaurant for dinner. (One couple we knew, the other we didn't...but turns out I attended elementary school with the husband!!) We dropped the kids by my parents (with snacks, hats, and horns...oh they were thrilled to go to Nana and Papa's house by themselves!!) and had a great night!! We laughed, oh we laughed!! We shared dating stories, wedding stories, birth stories, and family stories. The food was great, and the company, even better.
We picked up our pajama-clad children, refreshed and excited for the new year, and headed home in the blizzard.

Eight years without being out for a New Year's celebration, just the two of us, was too long. This night was just what we needed! We're so thankful, and grateful, to have true, generous friends, old, and new!!

Cheers to the New Year!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

Thrifty Christmas Finds

I love thrift stores. We have a few around here, and one of my favorites is at one of our local churches. Check out a few of the things I picked up last week:

A vintage ceramic Santa boot .45 cents

A Boyd Bear Christmas Moose .50cents

He fits right in on my Boyd Bear Christmas tree. (We have two trees...an heirloom, heritage tree in our Living Room with all of our family treasured ornaments, and a "kids tree" with my Christmas Boyds and all of the kids favorite ornaments in the Family Room).

I also picked up a vintage Santa metal serving tray in excellent condition for .10cents! No scratches, etc, so I will be using it next weekend for our Open House! It's beginning to look a lot like an old-fashioned Christmas!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday and Frugal Friday

With Love, On Our Anniversary...

A marriage anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year.

Together we've worked hard to get where we are today...Together we've grown in so many ways- and most of all, in love. It doesn't matter where you go in life, what you do...it's who you have beside you. Side by side- year by year.

On Wednesday, November 4th, we celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary! Nowadays, that's no easy feat! Since our marriage, we've buried a father, two grandmothers, many friends, and our best man. We've endured three pregnancies and given birth to two healthy, beautiful children. Everything we've shared has only made us stronger, together. I know the future holds even more happiness for us.

My mother offered to babysit for us on our Anniversary and my parents gave us a gift to a wonderful Italian restaurant. We both asked eachother...would you do it all again? Our answer: Absolutely!! We wouldn't change a thing!!
“I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you.”

My husband, and my marriage...two Finer Things I am so proud of! Here's to many more!!

Our Sports Family

My husband taught and coached football and basketball for his Alma Mater for 11 years. When we got engaged, it was announced over the loudspeaker at the State Playoff game that year, when we got married, the entire football team showed up at the church (I knew what I was "signing up" for, so our wedding, during football season, was strategically planned for a Sunday, the day after a State playoff game, and during a bye week, he was back to practice the next afternoon, and yes, I scouted along with my new husband during my honeymoon!!), and the following year, the booster club, coaches, players and their families threw us a baby shower...since I was very pregnant at the State Final game that year (She waited until three days later to arrive!! She learned early to plan around sports!!). They were our extended family. When we moved from our first house to where we live now, we were an hour and some minutes away. It was quite the haul to bring the kids to the games, only to have them last for maybe a quarter, if I was lucky. We slowly made less trips to see Daddy's games. After four years of the commute, and six state championships later, Daddy was ready for a change and a challenge. We would miss our sports family...
Last year he began teaching and coaching at our hometown high school...just eight minutes away!! Our new sports family has welcomed us with open arms. We make mostly every game now, and my daughter sports her cheerleading uniform and cheers with the high school cheerleaders the second half of each game. My son proudly sports his "jersey" (which I made since the 'real' ones were so big, and so expensive!!) that says Coach's Son...he's #00... and attends the teams practice and dinner every night before a game. He looks forward to this all. week. long!!! As soon as we pull in the parking lot, he rips his carseat straps off and yells "Gotta go Mom...I got practice now!!" My husband says he sits through the game film that night and doesn't make a sound. My three year old??!! This is his thing. Last week he was in his glory. His daddy brought him on the sidelines the last few minutes of the game (granted we were winning 40-0, so all were in a joyous mood), but the boys were coming off the field and he was high-five'ing his "teammates", as he calls them.

We took a leap of faith, and it worked out. We've planted our roots, and made our home. My husband summed it up with one phrase... "I feel like I've been there 10 years, they've accepted us so warmly." (And you coach's wives out there know how much that means!!!)
Our sports family...they are truly a Finer Thing.

Our first Noreaster!!

Here was the view outside my kitchen door yesterday morning. My son ran to the window and yelled excitedly, "It's winter!!!" I said, "yes, buddy, it is winter." Oh, Wait a minute....it's October 15!!!! We still have two months and six days left of fall, and here we are in the middle of our first Noreastern snow of the season! I just love when it snows. I love everything about it. We have four-wheel drive vehicles, so I don't even mind driving in it!! A low of 26 ° and it snowed all. night. long.

So, call me crazy, but our snowstorm, for me at least, was a Finer Thing!!

Edited to say: Husband had a game the next day...sitting on the bleachers in the middle of "blizzard like" snow... Finer Thing?? Not so much!!

Finer Things Friday- Classroom Halloween Party Ideas

When I was a teacher, I had Mom's chomping at the bit to be "Class Mom". One year I even had two grown women ready to "duke it out" in my reading corner in order to capture the title! I thought to myself, this is insane! Fast forward 11 years and here I am...First Grade Class Mom!!

I have so many ideas running through my head for the Halloween Parade and Party in a few weeks, and found a few great websites that are great inspiration for healthy alternatives and better options to a sugar filled, junk food fest, as well as unique ideas for crafts and decorations!

Betty Crocker Hassle-Free Halloween

Disney Halloween Crafts & Recipes

Family Fun Halloween

Amazing Moms Halloween

Teachers Corner Classroom Halloween Ideas

Your Home Based Mom (not only for adorable Halloween treat ideas, but she's got wonderful recipes, craft ideas, and decorating tips!!)

Being Class Mom with so many resources available on the Internet now is so much easier... and that, to me, is a Finer Thing!!

*Just added...a new recipe for Halloween Monster Munch!

Friday Night Lights

I'm a coach's wife. A coach's daughter. A football Mom. A cheerleading Mom. Yes, aside of watching my children forage around the perimeter of our three acre parcel to gather enough leaves to make a pile to jump in, (since the forest surrounding us is the only place where there's trees), my favorite thing about fall is a football game under the lights. There's just something about Friday Night Football. Crisp air. The band electrifying the fans. Freezing your "touckas" off on the aluminum bleachers. Seeing the steam or "fire" as my three year old calls it rise from the players backs. Why else would I be scouting a rival football game on my honeymoon eight years ago??!! Yeah...that's football!!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy...

Yesterday at school my daughter lost her second tooth. How exciting...at school! It's such a big deal when they lose their tooth at school. Their name automatically goes right onto the tooth chart; no need to wait until the next morning. (When I taught second grade it was the same way... the tooth chart was the big thing!) Her only complaint, "If only I'd lost it a few days earlier...I would've been the first. Ryan lost his on Monday!!" Gee whiz...life is hard!

Well, after leaving my husband's game last night in the third quarter (at 9pm!!!) I knew they would be good and exhausted, and it would be an easy visit for the Tooth Fairy. (After losing her first tooth, the tooth fairy flittered into her room at 1:30am, only to find a wide-eyed nosy Nellie awaiting her arrival...around 5am that morning, she was able to make her delivery.) Last night the Tooth Fairy found herself in the same situation. Even though the little princess was "snoring" over the baby monitor, each time she [the Tooth Fairy] tiptoed in, the princess awoke. "Did she come yet...did she come yet?" Mommy said she was just coming to check. When my husband rolled in around 11:30pm, after a big loss, films, you coach's wives know the drill, we were just laughing at how we were going to "make the drop".

Finally, exhausted, the Tooth Fairy stumbled her way in to plant the goods...not risking taking the tooth and waking the princess. Ah...operation completion!! My husband: "You left the tooth? You're not supposed to leave the tooth!" So, thinking about it half the night (oh the guilt we feel as mom's!!) I decided I'd try again to sneak in and take the tooth. After all, she left the first tooth because, it's her first lost tooth. She can't do it again!! So, when I went in this morning to wake her up I swiped the little box before I woke her and slipped it in my pocket. Mission Accomplished!!

All is well in Fairy Land.

Linked to: Finer Things Friday