Too Close to Call

It's often said that Christmas is "The most wonderful time of the year"...you probably already know that I am obsessed with Christmas time. But I think that this time of year {Fall} is in the race for a close second {or maybe even first} for being the most wonderful time of the year--it's just too close to call! I mean just think of all that Fall offers--school starts back, it's football season, the weather turns cool, Starbucks brings back the Pumpkin Spice Latte, it's football season, the leaves change to beautiful autumn hues, you get to carve pumpkins, you can eat LOTS of Halloween candy, it's football season, you can guiltlessly eat a ton of food at Thanksgiving, Fall fashion makes its debut, you can bake all sorts of apple and pumpkin recipes, and it's FOOTBALL season!! Who else agrees that it's currently the most wonderful time of the year?!?

We also love Fall because it is SO busy! If you live in Alabama you know that our governor decided to push school's start date up by nearly two weeks.  Sure, that was great for kids and parents, but we teachers still had to go back just as early. I was supposed to go back to school on August 6th--with the changes to the calendar I got two extra days and went back on the 8th instead. Now, don't get me wrong, it was really nice to have 8 whole days to work in my room and get PAID--we also had 3 days of Professional Development sprinkled throughout. So I worked, and worked, and worked, and worked some more to get ready for the arrival of my 17 new babies!

August 20th quickly approached. I woke up bright and early and got to start a brand new year with my Kindergarteners! We have now completed 3 whole weeks of school...it's so hard to believe how fast time flies! My kids are so precious! They amaze me daily at how much they already know at the ripe young age of 5 years old and how much they can learn so quickly:) I am excited to see how they will soar this year!

As aforementioned, it is football season!!! Last weekend we traveled to Atlanta to watch our Auburn Tigers play in their season opener against Clemson. You most likely already know the outcome of that game...we lost:( However, Britt and I LOVE Auburn football win or lose. Sure, we really love it when we are winning, but we will cheer for Auburn even in the worst of football times--we were born and raised Auburn kids--it's in our blood!! When we arrived in Atlanta on Friday evening we met Debbie and Al at one of our favorite places to eat--Six Feet Under. We had missed them so much since we left at the end of July! It was great to catch up with them:) Saturday we ate lunch at an Auburn "spot"- Twisted Taco before heading downtown to tailgate. We enjoyed seeing Ashton, Brooks, and my mom!

I got crafty and made us an Auburn football door hanger! 

Our Auburn house! 

Thankful for a long weekend, we drove back to Birmingham on Sunday so we could enjoy our day off on Monday. We had planned on going to the Alabama State Fair on Labor Day, but we woke up to pouring rain. We ended up enjoying our morning coffee snuggled up in bed and then a good workout at the gym later! If you know my daddy, you know he LOVES to cook. He cooked ribs, potato salad, and baked beans for us--it was de-licious as always!

 I got my first PSL of the season before we headed back to Birmingham! 

Lazy Labor Day:)

Daddy's food is always great! 

Since we didn't get to go to the fair on Monday, we decided to go later in the week. Poor Britt was expecting a really grand experience at the fair--the kind you see in movies and on TV. Unfortunately, the fair that is in Pelham, AL did not live up to our expectations. We did buy wristbands for unlimited rides, though! You would think that rides at a dinky fair would be lame....some of them were just okay, some were fun, but one of them was so "good" it was horrible. We were both ready to get off of it by the end! We also got to see the Flores Circus that was featured on America's Got Talent last season!

The Alabama State Fair...

We had to shoot that star out to win a prize! 

I'd say I have a pretty good shot considering I have never shot a gun! {Mine's on the right!}

Bumper Cars!!

Britt won this for me, ha:)

Ferris Wheel! 

View from the ferris wheel...

We did.not.like.this.ride!! 

 The Flores Family Circus {as seen on America's Got Talent}

We are spending this weekend more low-key....watching the Auburn game at home, making a new hotdog recipe from Southern Living's SEC Tailgate Cookbook, and I plan to clean the house!

Britt outdid himself!

Oh yeah---I almost forgot. I registered for my first half marathon this past week {The Magic City Half Marathon}!!! The longest race I have run is a 10K (about 6.2 miles)....I am kind of nervous about more than doubling that distance for the half marathon (13.1 miles), but I know I can do anything I put my mind to! I have about 10 weeks to train so I will start off with 6 miles on Sunday! Let the training begin....

Until next time- j&b